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1»1<.    Ikll)  I  |()1-     NAN.shiN 


THE   "FRAM"    EXPEDITION. 


HANSEN 


IN  THE 


PI^OZEH  OlORbD 

PRECEDED  BY  A  BIOGRAPHY  OF  THE  GREAT  EXPLORER  AND  COPIOUS 

EXTRACTS  FROM  NANSEN'S  "FIRST  CROSSING  OF  GREENLAND," 

ALSO  AN  ACCOUNT  BY  EIVIND  ASTRUP,   OF  LIFE  AMONG 

PEOPLE  NEAR  THE  POLE,  AND  HIS 

JoufneJ  Mm  Roiiiefn  &mMi 

WITH 

Lieut.  R.  E.  PEARY,  U.S.N. 


ARRANGED    AND    EDITED 
By  S.  L.  BERENS,  Cand.  F»lnil. 

FOLLOWED   BY   A    BRIEF   HISTORY   OF   THE   PRINCIPAL 

earlier  Hrctic  explorations 

FROM  THE  NINTH  CENTURY  TO  THE  PEARY  EXPEDITION,  INCLUDING 

THOSE  OF  CABOT,  FROBISHER,  BERING,  SIR  JOHN   FRANKLIN, 

KANE,  HAYES,  HALL,  NORDENSKJOLD,  NARES,  SCHWATKA, 

DeLONG,  GREELY,  AND  OTHERS. 

By  JOHN  E.  READ, 

Assistant  Editor  of  the  "Columbian  Cyclopedia." 


PROFUSELY  ILLUSTRATED. 


PHILADELPHIA,  PA.: 

A.  J.   HOLMAN  &  CO.,  Publishers. 


COPYKinKT,    1897,    BY  A.  J.    HOLMAX  &  CO. 


PREFACE 

Among  the  subjects  that  arc  "old  yet  ever  new,"  that  of  Arctic 
Ivxploration  holds  a  prominent  place.  It  interested  the  hardy 
Northmen  a  thousand  years  ago,  and  it  has  a  still  stronger  fasci- 
nation for  the  people  of  the  present  day.  It  is  natural  that  this 
should  be  the  case.  The  human  mind  is  so  constituted  that  it  is 
always  seeking  to  learn  about  things  that  lie  beyond  the  immedi- 
ate range  of  its  knowledge.  Among  intelligent  and  progressive 
people  there  is  always  a  desire  to  investigate  and  explore  the 
unknown.  This  is  followed  by  efforts  to  secure  the  knowledge 
for  which  a  wish  has  been  formed.  In  the  case  of  Arctic  Explo- 
ration, the  desire  to  know  whether  there  were  islands  or  conti- 
nents beyond  the  narrow  range  of  their  vision  led  the  pioneers 
in  this  great  work  to  sail  upon  unknown  seas.  Probably  a  love 
of  adventure  also  urged  them  on,  but  this  could  hardly  have  been 
the  leading  motive  in  their  dangerous  voyages.  At  an  early 
period  in  the  history  of  such  enterprises  the  commercial  spirit 
became  a  factor,  and  in  later  days  the  love  of  scientific  investiga- 
tion was  added  to  the  other  elements  in  the  combination  of  forces 
which  led  men  to  brave  the  dangers  and  endure  the  hardships 
inseparable  from  the  work  of  Arctic  Exploration. 

The  latest  of  the  great  Arctic  explorers  to  reach  his  home  is 
Dr.  Fridtjof  Nansen,  a  young  Norwegian  scientist,  who  went 
much  farther  north  than  man  had  ever  been,  farther  even  than 
the  companion  who  accompanied  him  to  latitude  86°  14'.  In 
lunope  and  America  he  is  the  hero  of  the  day.  His  accurate 
knowledge,  wonderful  foresight,  marvellous  skill,  splendid  execu- 
tive ability,  magnificent  courage,  and  unconquerable  determina- 
tion carried  him  to  a  success  far  greater  than  any  of  his  prede- 
cessors were  able  to  secure.  It  is  fitting  that  the  record  of  his 
brilliant  achievements  should  be  given  to  the  public  in  a  handsome 
and  a  permanent  form.  With  this  end  in  view  the  present  book 
has  been  prepared.  It  also  seemed  desirable  that  it  should  con- 
tain a  biography  of  Dr.  Nansen  and  an  account  of  his  work,  much 
of  which  was  valuable,  previous  to  the  great  exploit  which  brought 


850'^77 


ii  PREFACE 

him  world-wide  fame.  Thus  the  people  could  be  brought  to 
know  the  man  as  well  as  to  learn  of  his  deeds.  In  order  to  add 
still  further  to  its  interest  and  make  it  not  only  an  entertaining 
but  also  a  permanently  valuable  book,  it  was  decided  to  add  other 
features.  The  great  journey  across  the  inland  ice  of  Greenland 
by  Lieutenant  Peary,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  and  Eivind 
Astrup,  is  fully  described,  and  a  sketch  is  given  of  the  Second 
Peary  Expedition.  The  concluding  jiortion  of  the  book  is  a 
connected  sketch  of  the  principal  expeditions  to  the  North  from 
their  earliest  date  down  to  the  time  of  the  ones  just  described. 
Thus  the  entire  historical  period  of  Arctic  Exploration  to  the 
return  of  Xansen  and  the  Fram  in  1896  has  been  covered. 

The  materials  for  this  work  have  been  obtained  from  the  best 
sources,  and  their  arrangement  has  received  careful  attention. 
The  biography  of  Dr.  Nansen  and  a  description  of  the  planning 
and  executing  of  the  great  journey  across  Greenland  were  mainly 
written  by  two  eminent  Norwegian  scholars,  Professor  \V.  C. 
Progger  and  I'rofessor  Nordahl  Rolfsen,  both  intimate  friends  of 
the  great  explorer.  The  story  of  the  Crossing  of  the  Inland  Ice 
is  related  by  Nansen  himself,  while  several  of  the  following  chap- 
ters were  prepared  by  his  Norwegian  friends.  The  description 
of  the  Voyage  of  the  Fraui,  of  the  Great  Sledge  Expedition  and 
its  wonderful  success,  and  of  the  return  of  the  explorers,  is  given 
in  Nansen's  own  words.  Across  Northern  Greenland,  an  account 
of  the  expedition  of  Lieutenant  Peary,  is  by  Eivind  Astrup,  an 
entertaining  writer  and  famous  explorer  who  accompanied  Peary 
in  the  j>erilous  journey  to  the  extreme  northern  portion  of  that 
desolate  lanrl.  In  the  preparation  of  the  history  of  the  Earlier 
Arctic  ICxplorations  the  works  of  the  best  writers  upon  the  sub- 
ject were  consulted.  Where  discrepancies  were  found,  as  they 
were  in  several  instances,  the  evidence  was  carefully  weighed  and 
the  statements  which  seemed  to  have  the  strongest  claim  for 
accuracy  were  accepted.  Of  the  more  than  one  hundred  illustra- 
tions, many  of  them  full-page,  which  not  only  add  to  the  beauty 
f)f  the  book  but  greatly  increase  its  utility,  a  large  number  are 
from  photographs  taken  upon  the  spot  and  are  absolutely  perfect 
representations  of  the  scenes  which  they  ])lace  before  the  eye. 
I'"or  several  of  these  illustrations  we  are  under  obligations  to  Mr. 
Alfred  C.  Harmsworth,  patron  of  the  Jackson-Harmsworth  E.\- 
pcdition,  and   some  were  obtained   from   Nansen's  "  Fram   Over 


PREFACE  iii 

Polhavet,"  published  in  Norway.  Messrs.  Houj^hton,  Mififlin  & 
Company  and  The  Lothrop  Publishinj^  Company  kindly  furnished 
several  portraits  ;  the  publishers  of  McClure's  Magazine  allowed 
the  use  of  a  number  of  fine  plates,  and  through  the  courtesy  of 
Dr.  Robert  N.  Keely,  surgeon  to  Peary's  First  P2.\pedition,  and 
Dr.  Gwilym  G.  Davis,  member  of  the  Archaeological  Association 
of  the  University  of  Pcnn.sylvania,  many  extremely  beautiful 
sketches  and  photographs  are  given. 

The  investigation  of  the  cheerless  region  of  the  North  has 
been  attended  by  constant  danger  and  has  involved  heavy  losses 
of  life  and  property.  But  the  work  has  not  been  done  in  vain. 
It  opened  the  way  for  the  formation  of  colonies,  for  the  develop- 
ment of  commerce,  for  cxttMisive  and  profitable  whale  and  seal 
fisheries,  and  has  greatly  enlarged  the  bounds  of  human  know- 
ledge. Not  only  has  there  been  an  enormous  advance  in  the  line 
of  geographical  information,  but  much  has  been  learned  regarding 
geology,  meteorology,  zoology,  and  kindred  sciences.  Work  in 
this  direction  has  also  made  known  to  civilized  nations  a  most 
interesting  race  of  people  who  not  only  live,  but  who  appear  to 
fully  enjoy  life,  in  a  region  of  perpetual  snow  and  ice.  Then,  too, 
the  heroism,  fortitude  and  fidelity  of  the  noble  men  who,  at  the 
imminent  risk  of  their  lives,  have  gone  to  this  inhospitable  region 
and  in  the  face  of  appalling  dangers,  and  while  enduring  most 
terrible  sufferings,  have  struggled  on  in  order  that  they  might 
open  to  the  civilized  w^orld  the  vast  domain  which  had  so  long 
remained  unknown,  have  been  object  lessons  of  faith  and  hope  to 
all  the  world.  And  as  long  as  courage  is  admired,  devotion  to 
duty  is  respected,  and  self-sacrifice  is  revered,  so  long  will  the 
deeds  of  the  heroes  who  have  toiled  amid  the  awful  dreariness 
and  desolation  of  the  Frozen  World  be  held  in  honored  remem- 
brance. 

P'urther  progress  in  Arctic  Exploration  will  involve  difficulty 
and  danger,  but  the  end  is  not  yet.  What  has  been  accomplished 
will  stimulate  to  renewed  effort,  and  the  knowledge  that  has  been 
gained  in  the  past  will  greatly  aid  in  the  future  prosecution  of  the 
work.  The  genius  and  energy  of  man  are  pitted  against  the 
barriers  of  nature,  and  sooner  or  later  nature  will  be  compelled  to 
reveal  her  secrets  to  his  gaze.  Those  who  are  inclined  to  doubt 
the  probability  of  carrying  further  an  investigation  of  the  Arctic 
region  should  be  encouraged  by  the  fact  that  many  things  which 


iv  PREFACE 

were  long:  deemed  impossible  have  been  accomplished  and  that 
the  future  may  be  expected  to  bring  as  great  surprises  as  the  past 
has  given.  A  curious  illustration  of  the  uncertainty  of  predic- 
tions regarding  the  success  of  Arctic  Exploration  is  found  in  the 
book  of  an  able  English  writer.  The  preface  of  this  work  was 
dated  March  25,  1850,  a  time  at  which  interest  in  the  fate  of  Sir 
John  Franklin  was  at  its  height.  The  last  words  of  the  book 
express  a  hope  that  "  England  will  be  careful  of  again  risking  the 
lives  of  her  adventurous  sons  in  further  attempts  to  discover 
what  cannot  be  looked  upon  in  any  other  light  than  that  of  a 
geographical  i^tiis  faiinis,T\\Q  Northwest  Passage."  Yet  from 
documents  which  were  afterward  found  it  was  proved  that  the 
I'ranklin  expedition  had  discovered  this  passage  not  less  than 
three  years  before  its  non-existence  was  so  emphatically  affirmed. 
During  the  last  half  century  great  advances  along  the  line  of 
Arctic  Exploration  have  been  made  and  interest  has  waxed  instead 
of  waned.  Each  new  discovery  seems  to  stimulate  to  still  stronger 
endeavor,  and  public  interest  in  the  subject  was  never  as  high  as 
it  is  at  the  present  time.  Projects  of  various  kinds  are  being 
considered  and  preparations  for  further  efforts  are  under  way. 
Which  of  the  various  plans  proposed  will  lead  to  success,  or 
whether  one  radically  different  from  any  that  have  been  sug- 
gested will  be  required,  cannot  be  affirmed.  But  it  is  safe  to  say 
that,  sooner  or  later,  the  great  Arctic  problem  will  be  solved. 
The  work  will  be  carried  on  until  the  region  at  the  North  that  is 
iu)w  unknown  has  been  exjjlored  and  a  flag  has  been  unfurled 
upon  the  precise  spot  which  geographers  designate  as  the  Pole. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


CHAPTER 

I.   Ancestry  —  Childiiood 9 

II.   Youth -4 

III.     NANSKN'S       (".KEICNLAXU        EXPEUITIOX  —   i'RICl'ARATION  — 

Plan  —  Equipmknt 35 

IV.   Across  Greknland 54 

V.   Drifting  in  the  Ice 7'"^ 

VI.   An  Eskimo  Encampment  on  the  East  Coast        .         .  86 
VII.   The  Crossing  of  the  Inland   Ice  — The   First  Sight 

OF  Land  and  First  Drink  of  Water  .        .        .        -113 

\III.   The  Descent  to  Ameralikfjord 136 

IX.   Arrival  at  Godthaab i45 

X.   With  the  Current ^11 

XI.    Nansen  at  Home  and  Abroad 188 

XII.    On  Board  tiii-:  ••  Fram  " 218 

NANSEN'S    STORY    AS    TOLD    liV    HIMSELF 

XIII.   Introduction 249 

Xl\'.   The  Voyagf:  of  the  "Fram" 257 

X\'.   Thic  Gricat  Si.icdge  IIxi'icdition 271 

XVI.    Homeward  Bound 296 

XVII.    How  the  "Fram"  faked  — Svekdrip's  Story       .        .  302 

PEARY'S    JOURNEY    ACROSS    NORTHERN    (H^EENLAND 

XVIII.  Winter  Quarters  and  I'reparatioxs          .        •        •  323 

XI. X.   Across  the  Ice  Cap 339 

XX.   The  Second  Peary  Expedition 357 

XXI.    Natives  at  Smith  Sound 3^J^ 

XXII.   Hunting 37o 

XXIII.    The  North  (Greenland  Dog 395 

X.\l\'.    Home  Life,  Haiuts  and  Character      ....  406 

XX\\    Intelligence,   Ri:lu;i()US  Ideas  and  Custo.ms         .        .  421 

e.\rlii:r  arctic  explorations 

X.WI.    Pioneer  VoYAr;ES 44' 

XXVII.    Interest  renewed 45^^ 

X.WI  1 1.    Heroic  Endeavors 477 

XXIX.   Great  Disasters 5'^ 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


Dr.  Kridtjof  Nansen Frontispiece 

Hans  Nansen 

Haron  Christian  F.  \'.  Wedel-Jarlsberg  (Nansen's  Grandfather) 
liaroness  C.  F.  \'.  Wedcl-Jarlsberg  (Nansen's  (nandmother) 
Fridtjof  Nansen  and  his  Father         ...... 

Nansen's  Mother 

Great  Froen  —  The  DwcHing-house  ...... 

Nansen  as  a  Child  ........ 

Nansen  as  a  Boy 

In  the  Polar  .Sea 

The  Members  of  the  Greenland  Expedition       ..... 
Svcrdrup  on  Guard  on  the  Ice  Floe       ....  I-acing f>a^ 

Under  Sail  in  the  Moonlight — Crevasses  ahead       .... 
Nansen  and  Sverdrup  in  the  Canvas  Boat 

Nansen  at  Thirty-one 

Tailpiece:  Head  of  Walrus 

The  Eskimo  Encampment  at  Cape  Bille    . 

Eskimo  Beauty,  from  the  East  Coast,  in  her  Old  Age 

Eskimo  Boy,  from  the  Camp  at  Cape  Bille 

Eskimos,  from  the  Camp  at  Cape  Bille 

"  An  unusually  sociable  woman  ''.... 

"  Then  the  master  came  out  of  the  tent '" 

Canoes  among  the  Floes     ...... 

First  Attempts  at  Sailing        ..... 

"And  there  I  lay  gazing  after  the  ship  and  its  sail  " 

Sailing  on  the  Inland  Ice 

Sailing  in  Moonlight  .... 

Coasting  down  the  Slopes  .    . 
An  Awkward  Predicament 

Koughish  Ice 

Rest  and  Reflection     .... 
Into  Better  Ice  again 
Upon  the  Brow  of  an  Ice-slope  . 
The  Boat  and  its  Builder 
Shooting  Gulls  from  the  Boat    . 
By  Ameralikfjord    .... 
Bolette  —  Greenland  Woman  of  Mi.\ed 
Nansen  in  1K93       .... 
Nansen  on  the  Ice —  Summer  Hress 
Nansen  on  the  Ice  — Winter  Dress 


Race 


IJST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


vu 


Eva  NaiiSLii Facing  page 

Dr.  Nansen Facing  page 

Nansen's  Home 

Nansen's  Study  at  Godthaab Facing  page 

The  Launch  of  the  "  Fram  " Facing  page 

Nansen  and  Mrs.  Nansen  ow  Snow-slioes 
The  "  Fram  "  in  Bergen     .... 

Lieutenant  Johansen 

Kitchen  of  the  ''  Fram  "      .         .         .         . 

Saloon  on  the  •'  Fram  " 

Nansen's  Study  on  the  "  Fram  " 
Colin  Archer,  the  Builder  of  the  "  Fram  " 
(From  "  Fram  Over  Polhavet.") 
The  '•  Fram "'  leaving  Bergen,  Norway,  for  the  Arctic  Regions 

(From  "  Fram  Over  Polhavet.'') 
Members  of  the  Norwegian  Polar  Expedition,  1893-96  Facing  page 

(P'rom  "  F'ram  Over  Polhavet.'') 

Outline  Draught  of  the ''Fram"' Facing  page 

(From  "  Fram  Over  Polhavet.") 

The '' Fram"  in  the  Ice-pack 

(By  courtesy  of  McClure's  Magazine.) 
Playing  Cards  on  Board  the  "  Fram  "         ....      Facing  page 

(From  "  Fram  Over  Polhavet.'  ) 
Crew  of  the  '•  Fram '' when  Nansen  and  Johansen  left  the 

Ship Facingpage 

(From  "  Fram  Over  Polhavet.") 
Dr.  Xansen  and  Lieutenant  Johansen  leaving  the  "  Fram  " 
Hunting  Walrus  on  the  East  Coast  of  Taimyr  Peninsula       Facing  page 

(From  "  Fram  Over  Polhavet.") 
Toward  the  South  :  Nansen  and  Johansen  Homeward  bound, 

May  I,  1896 Facingpage 

(From  "  FVam  Over  Polliavet.") 
Meeting  of  Dr.  Nansen  and  Mr.  Jackson  in  Franz  Josef  Land,  June,  1896 
(By  permission  of  Mr.  Alfred  C.  Harmsworth.) 

Dr.  Nansen  in  Franz  Josef  Land,  June  1896 

(By  permission  of  Mr.  .\lfrcd  C.  Harmsworth.) 
Captain  Otto  Neumann  Sverdrup  ....  Facingpage 

The  "Fram'' in  the  Harbor  of  Christiania  after  her  Return     . 
Nansen's  Reception  at  Christiania,  September  9,  1896  Facim^ page 

Lieutenant  Robert  E.  Peary,  U.  S.  N. 

Eivind  Astrup 

Our  First  Bear Facing  page 

Ice-pack  in  Melville  Bay  . 

The  •' Kite  "  at  Melville  Bay     • Facingpage 

Peary's  House  and  Tent 

Iceberg  off  Cape  Cleveland,  McCormick  Bay 
Separation  of  Ice  Floes  .  .  .  .  • 
Pearv  and  his  Companions 

The  Midnight  Sun Facingpage 

A  Specimen  of  Greenland  Flora 


188 
190 
197 
198 
202 
21 1 
219 
224 
230 
233 
237 
244 

246 

249 

'"*  C2 

263 
264 


274 
282 


288 

293 
297 

302 

314 
316 
321 
324 
324 
326 
326 
335 
336 
338 
340 
340 
346 


Vill 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIOXS 


Musk  Ox 

The  Relief  I'arty  meeting  I'eaiy  and  Astrup 
I'earv  and  Astrup  hoisting  Flags  on  Navy  Cliff     . 
Young  Eskimo  Girls  and  Native  Hut  at  tiodhavn 
The -Falcon"  among  Icebergs      .... 
Walrus  taking  a  Sun  Bath  .... 

Sea-birds 

Watching  for  Seal 

Sledge  from  Smith  Sound 

Kskimo  Fox-trap 

Hear  attacking  Seal 

Different  Weapons  and  Implements 

Attacking  a  Walrus 

A  Group  of  Seals 

Shooting  Seals        .... 

Reindeer 

Catching  Auks  with  a  Net 
A  Favorite  Dog 

Dog  Harness 

Dogs  of  Northern  Greenland 

A  Group  of  I'ups 

Eskimo  Boy         .... 

An  Eskimo  House  in  W'inlL-r  .... 

Stone  Huts  or  Igloos  —  taken  at  .Midni<:;lit 

Cape  York,  Sniitli  Sound  —  Eskimo  .Sleds  on  the  Ice 

Interior  of  Hut 

Sir  John  Franklin 

Martin  Frobishcr        ....... 

Henry  Grinnell        ....... 

Dr.  E.  K.  Kane 

Dr.  Isaac  I.  Hayes  ...... 

C.  F.  Hall   .       ' 

A.  E.  Nordenskjold  ...... 

Lieutenant  G.  W.  l)c  Long.  I  .  S.  N. 

Com.  George  W.  Melville.  U.  S.  N. 

Tailpiece :  Polar  Bear 


J'aciiig  pai^t' 


Facing  page 
Facing  page 


J'aciiig  page 
J'acing  page 
J'aciiig  page 


1  acing  page 


Juicing  page 


349 
350 
356 
358 
358 
360 

3^4 

371 
373 
374 
375 
380 

384 
386 

389 
391 
393 
395 
397 
400 
405 
406 
407 
409 
4"i 
413 
441 
447 
479 
483 
4S9 

4';3 
505 
517 
520 

531 


MAI'S 

Map  of  Greenland J-'aciiig page     146 

Map  of  Projected  and  Actual  Routes  of  the  '•  I- ram  '  and 
Course  of  Sledge  Expedition J'acing  page     266 

(By  courtesy  of  McCliiri-"s  M;ii;a/.iiK'.) 


NANSEN  IN  TIIIL  FROZEN  WORLD 


CHAPTER    I 

ANCESTRY CHILDHOOD 


Hans  Nansen,  Fridtjof  Nansen's  ancestor,  born  No- 
vember 28,  1598,  in  Flensburg,  had  as  a  sixteen  years 
old  lad  orone  to  the  White  Sea  in  his  uncle's  ship  —  in 
those  days  quite  an  adventurous  enterprise.  They  liad 
practically  no  charts,  they  were  scantily  supplied  with 
instruments,  and  they  had  to  keep  cannon  and  cutlasses 
in  readiness.  In  the  course  of  the  voyage,  indeed,  they 
had  been  twice  overhauled  and  plundered  by  the  I'-ng- 
lish.  Now  they  were  fast  in  the  ice  at  Kola.  But  the 
intelligent  boy,  eager  for  knowledge,  did  not  permit  him- 
self to  be  depressed.  He  employed  the  time  in  learning- 
Russian,  and  in  the  summer,  when  tlie  uncle  bent  his 
course  southward  again,  his  nephew  did  not  accompany 
him.  He  preferred  to  stay  behind  and  learn  more.  He 
travelled  alone  "  through  several  districts  of  Russia  to 
the  town  of  Kuwantz."  From  Kuwantz  he  took  ship  in 
September  for  Copenhagen. 

His  character  came  early  to  maturity,  and  his  jiowers 
could  not  brook  inaction.  He  had  not  completed  his 
twenty-first  year  when  King  Christian  I\'.  placed  him  at 
the  head  of  an  exi^edition   to  the   rich   fur  regions  about 


lo  X.-i.VS£jV  /.V  TffE  FR0/.1:X  WORLD 

the   Pctschura.     But  the  ice  was  too  much  for  him. 


He 


had  to  make  up  his  mind  to  winter  at  Kola.  Here  he 
received  a  commission  from  the  Czar  of  Russia,  and 
undertook,  by  imperial  order,  an  exploration  of  the  coast 


HANS    NANSEN 


Not  until   he  reached  Archangel  did 


ot  the  White  Sea 
he  rejoin  his  ship. 

After  that  he  held  a  command  for  eighteen  seasons  in 
the  service  of  the  Iceland  Company.  He  was  by  nature  a 
keen  observer  and  a  born  leader  of  men,  full  of  alert  prac- 
ticality, and  yet  with  a  strong  literary  bent.  And  he  was 
eminently  disposed  to  share  with  others  the  fruits  of  his 


NANSEN'S  ANCESTRY  AND    CHILDHOOJ:)  ii 

reading".  "  When  I  liad  notliing  else  to  do,"  he  writes, 
"  I  copied  out  extracts  from  the  Hible,  and  froni  x'arious 
cosmographical  and  geographical  works,  to  serve  as  an 
index  and  coninionplace-book  for  future  reference.  .  .  . 
And  when,  a  little  while  ago,  1  read  it  through  again,  1 
thought  that  perhaps  there  might  be  others  who  would 
be  triad  to  know  these  thinii's,  but  who,  on  account  of 
other  occupations  and  so  forth,  had  neither  time  nor 
opportunity  to  study  the  great  works  on  cosmography. 
For  the  benefit  of  such  persons  I  have  given  to  the 
press  this  brief  digest."  The  title  ran :  "  Compendium 
Cosmographicum ;  being  a  short  description  of  the  en- 
tire earth,  etc.  Treating,  furthermore,  of  the  sea  and  of 
navigation,  witli  certain  serviceable  directions  thereto 
appertaining." 

The  "  Compendium  Cosmographicum  "  became  a  pop- 
ular handbook,  so  much  read  by  seafaring  men  and 
others,  that  four  editions  were  exhausted  in  the  author's 
lifetime.  Indeed,  we  gather  that  up  to  a  few  years  ago  it 
had  not  quite  gone  out  of  use.  The  copy  now  in  the 
possession  of  the  Nansen  family  came,  according  to  a 
well-authenticated  tradition,  direct  from  a  skipper  who 
sailed  by  it.  Inside  the  old  cover,  the  late  owner  of  the 
book  has  inscribed  the  following  testimonial:  — 

"  TJiis  book  is  of  great  use  to  scafarmg  folk.  Ote 
Borgersen  A  as,  1841." 

Thus  the  handbook  of  the  gallant  old  Arctic  skipper 
may  be  said  to  have  done  service  down  to  the  very  thresh- 
old of  the  time  when  his  descendant  was  preparing  to 
add  new  "  courses "  to  those  he  had  so  diligently  laid 
down  —  "courses"  across  Greenland  and  to  the  North 
Pole. 


12  ,\.4.VS£iV  /X  THE  FROZEN   WORLD 

At  the  age  of  fortv,  Hans  Xanscn  begins  to  rise  in  tlie 
world:  and  soon  he  exchanges  tlie  command  of  a  sliiji's 
crew  for  that  of  the  burghers  of  Copenhagen.  He  first 
became  town  councillor,  then  one  of  the  four  burgo- 
masters, and  in  1654  he  held  the  chief  place  among  the 
four.  Shrewd,  ready-witted,  eloquent,  accustomed  to 
command,  and  endowed  with  a  firm  will  and  invincible 
energy,  he  seemed  specially  created  to  take  part,  and  a 
leading  part,  in  the  critical  times  which  followed. 

In  i6sS  the  Swedish  kins:,  I^^rl  Gustav,  declared  war 
and  invaded  Zealand.  The  Estates  met  at  the  Palace, 
the  royal  message  was  read,  and  the  king  addressed  tliem 
in  person.  It  fell  to  the  lot  of  Hans  Nansen  to  answer 
that  the  burghers  "  would  stand  by  the  king  through 
thick  and  thin,"  and  the  populace  behind  him  shouted 
their  assent.  Not  only  was  the  integrity  of  their  native 
land  at  stake,  but  civic  freedom  and  independence  as 
well.  ()n  the  follow  in*''  dav.  the  loth  of  August  i6s8, 
the  Privv  Council  was  obliged  to  issue  a  proclamation 
"which  was  as  good  as  a  patent  of  nobility  to  all  the  mer- 
chants and  handicraftsmen  of  Copenhagen."  Karl  Gustav 
understood  its  significance.  "  Since  the  burghers  have 
obtained  such  jDrivileges,"  he  exclaimed,  "no  doubt  they'll 
stand  a  tussle."  /\nd  during  this  "tussle"  the  leading 
burgomaster  of  Copenhagen  had  no  peace  either  by  day 
or  night.  I'larthworks  had  to  be  constructed,  ditches 
filled,  j)rovisions  laid  in,  soldiers  (|uartered,  the  burghers 
drilled  and  commanded,  and  public  order  preserved  in  the 
midst  of  a  concourse  of  people  crowding  into  the  city 
from  every  side.  "We  find  him  now  at  liome,  opening 
his  ))late  chest  and  his  money-box,  ))lacing  great  sums  at 
the  king's  disposal,  lending  hiin  his  carriage  and   horses, 


NANSEN'S  ANCESTRY  A. YD    C////.J)//OOD  13 

and  all  the  lime  doinL;'  his  best  to  kccj)  up  the  sj^irits  of 
his  own  family;  now  in  the  Town  Mall  sitting  in  council 
or  on  the  bench ;  now  in  the  Chamber,  now  with  the 
king;  then  again  at  a  regimental  inspection,  or  on  the 
fire-watch  tower,  or  at  the  outworks,  with  the  bullets 
l)icking  men  off  on  every  side;  now  listening  to  the  ser- 
mons which  were  preached  on  the  ramparts,  now  going 
the  rounds  with  the  night  patrol."  And  when  it  comes 
to  meeting  the  enemy  outside  the  fortifications,  the  inde- 
fatigable burgomaster  is  still  in  the  van. 

It  is  certain  that  there  are  remarkable  points  of  simi- 
larity between  the  old  burgoniaster  and  his  grandson's 
grandson's  grandson. 

It  would  seem  as  though  Fridtjof  Nansen  himself  were 
conscious  of  this  hereditary  strain  in  his  character.  In 
one  of  his  letters  to  his  father,  he  speaks  of  the  Nansen 
pride,  which  in  his  case,  when  occasion  demands,  takes 
the  form  of  an  adamantine  stubbornness. 

But  this  pride  does  not  descend  to  him  on  tlie  male 
side  alone  ;  through  his  mother  he  inherits  the  blood  of 
the  Wedels. 

Count  Herman  Wedel-Jarlsberg,  the  famous  political 
leader  of  18 14,  afterwards  Viceroy  (Statholder)  of  Nor- 
way, had  a  younger  brother,  Baron  Christian  Frederik 
Vilhelm  of  Fornebo,  whose  daughter  was  the  mother  of 
Fridtjof  Nansen.  Thus,  if  pride  and  spirit  of  adventure 
may  be  said  to  lie  at  the  root  of  the  father's  family-tree, 
every  branch  of  the  mother's  bears  evidence  of  the  same 
qualities. 

A  few  words  more  about  the  Nansen  family.  I  lans 
Nansen,  Municipal  President,  Privy  Councillor,  and  Judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  died  at  Coi)enhagen,  November  i  2, 


14 


X.-iXS£X  /X   THE   FRO/.  EX    WORLD 


1667.  A  daughter  of  his  eldest  son,  Michael  Nansen,  was 
married  to  the  celebrated  Peter  Griffenfeld.  A  younger 
son,  Hans  Nansen,  was  Municipal  President  of  Copen- 
hagen at  the  time  of  his  death  in  171S.  His  grandson 
was  Ancher  Anthony  Nansen,  with  whom   the  male  line 


l.AKU.N    (Hkl^lIAN     1-.    \.    U  l.DEI.-JAkLMil-.Ki;    (N  ANSK.N  "S    (IRAN  DI-ATHER) 


removed  to  Norway.  In  1761  lie  became  district  magis- 
trate of  Outer  Sogn,  and  there  married  a  lady  of  the 
name  of  Leierdahl,  a  member  of  tlie  (ieelmuyden  family. 
His  only  son  was  called  Hans  Leierdahl  Nansen,  who  in 


NANSEN'S  ANCESTRY  AM)    Clfl/.DHOOn  15 

September,  1809,  became  judge  in  ( iuldalen,  and  later  rep- 
resentative for  Stavanger  district  in  Stortliiiiget.  He  was 
divorced  from  his  first  wife  and  married  again,  18 10,  a 
daughter  of  court-printer  Moller  of  Co])enhagen.  They 
were  Fridtjof  Nansen's  grandfather  and  grandmother. 


BARONESS   C.    F.    V.    WF.DEI.-JARI.SHERG    (NANSF.n's    CRANnMOTIIFK) 


Fridtjof's  father,  Baldur  Fridtjof  Nansen,  was  l^orn  in 
Egersund  in  181 7.  After  tlie  deatli  of  liis  father  in  tlie 
twenties,  Baldur  Nansen's  motlier  remo\-ed  from  l\gersund 
to  Stavanger,  for  the  sake  of  her  son's  education.      Here 


i6 


a'jxs/:n  /x  the  frozen  world 


she  lived  till  1S35,  when  he  matriculated  at  the  University 
ut  Christian ia, 

'•  He  was   industrious."  says  an    intimate   friend   of  the 

Nansen  family  in  a 
letter,  "well-behaved 
and  exemplary  in 
every  respect.  Mis 
al:)ilities  were  not  bril- 
liant, but,  being  strict- 
Iv  and  plainly  brought 
up,  and  stimulated  by  ' 
the  influence  of  his 
clever  mother,  he 
passed  all  his  exami- 
K  nations  with  a  certain 

distinction,  and  be- 
came an  accomplished 
jurist.  He  had  none 
of  his  jDarents'  wit  and 
fancy ;  but  he  was 
noted  for  his  thor- 
oughly refined,  amiabli-,  and  courteous  manners  and  dis- 
position." 

He  became  Reporter  to  the  Supreme  Court;  but  he 
was  principally  employed  in  finance  and  conveyancing. 
He  enjoyed  unbounded  confidence. 

I^aldur  Nansen 's  first  wife  was  the  daughter  of  Major- 
(ieneral  Sorensen,  and  sister  to  the  wife  of  the  poet  Jorgen 
Moe.  His  second  wife  (I^'ridtjof's  mother)  was  Adelaide 
Johanna  Isidora,  mc  W'edcl-jarlsberg,  who  also  had  been 
marrierl  before.  Mrs.  Adelaide  Nansen  is  described  as  a 
tall  and  stately  lady,  cajjable  and   resolute,  even-tempered 


hKimjoK    .\ANSKN    AND    MIS    KATHKR 


NANSEN'S  ANCESTR  V  AND    CHfLDHOOD 


17 


and  straightforward,  witliout  any  pretension  on  the  score 
of  birth  and  ancestry.  She  had  a  mascuhne  will.  It  was 
greatly  against  the  wishes  of  her  strict  and  aristocratic 
father  that  she  married  a  baker's  son  for  her  first  hus- 
band. However,  she  carried  her  point,  and  her  mother 
appears  to  have  sided  with  her  in  this  affair  of  the  heart. 
The  parents  were  not  at  the  marriage,  althougli  they  had 
given  their  consent. 

As  a  young  girl  she  had  defied  opinion  and  cultivated 
that  sport  which  her  son  was  afterwards  to  render  world- 
famous.  She  was  devoted  to  snow-shoeing,  which  was  at 
that  time  thought  unwomanly  and  even  improper.  .As  a 
housewife  she  was  one  of  those  who  know  every  nook 
and  corner  of  the  house 
from  attic  to  cellar  —  ac- 
tive, managing,  ready 
with  her  hands  and  not 
afraid  of  tlie  coarsest 
work.  If  the  servant  had 
blistered  her  fingers,  the 
lady  of  the  house  would 
herself  take  hold  and 
wring  out  the  wet  linen. 
She  worked  in  the  crar- 
den,  and  she  made  her 
boys'  clothes.  They  had 
no  other  tailor  until  they 
were  eighteen  years  old. 

Nevertheless,  she  found   time   to  acquire   the   knowledge 
she   had    not  stored  up  in   early  youth.      Her  will   power 
and  love  of  activity,  her  intrepidity,  her  j^ractical  and  reso- 
lute nature,  have  descended  to  her  son. 
2 


XAN-SEN  i    MoTllKK 


,S  A'.^A'S/iX  /X  THE  FROZEN   WORLD 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nansen,  after  their  marriage,  settled 
down  upon  a  small  property  belonging  to  her  at  Great 
Froen  in  West  Aker.  Here  I^-idtjof  was  born  on  October 
lo,  iS6i. 

In  the  choice  of  liis  birthplace,  his  lucky  star,  as  we 
have  said  before,  had  ordered  things  for  the  best.  Here 
was  country  life,  here  were  cows  and  horses,  geese  and 
hens,  hills  for  snow-shoeing  on  every  side,  great  forests 
close  at  hand,  and,  only  some  two  miles  and  a  half  away, 
an  excellent  school,  one  of  the  best  in  Christiania. 
These  two  miles  and  a  half  were  reckoned  a  mere 
nothing  in  the  Nansen  household.  First  to  school  in  the 
morning,  and  back  again,  then,  on  summer  afternoons, 
down  to  the  fortress  to  learn  to  swim  —  that  makes  a 
good  ten  miles  of  a  hot  summer's  day,  to  say  nothing  of 
minor  wanderings.  .And  there  were  invariably  fights  by 
the  way  —  systematic  training,  be  it  observed,  from  the 
very  first. 

Froen  farmyard  was  the  scene  of  the  boy's  earliest 
e.\j)cditions,  and  it  was  not  Arctic  cold,  but  torrid  heat 
that  first  imj)erilled  his  life.  One  day  when  he  was  three 
years  old,  and  still  in  frocks,  he  stood  hammering  away  at 
a  wheelbarrow,  no  doubt  trying  to  mend  it,  when,  to  the 
consternation  of  those  in  the  kitchen,  a  column  of  smoke 
was  seen  to  be  rising  from  his  person.  "  He's  on  fire!" 
was  the  cry.  Out  rushed  the  housekeeper,  and  tore  his 
clothes  off  his  back.  In  the  course  of  his  wanderings,  he 
had  visited  the  brew-house,  where  some  sparks  from  the 
fire  had  lodged  in  his  petticoats;  and  behold!  he  was 
within  an  ace  of  being  burnt  to  death  in  blissful  uncon- 
sciousness that  anything  was  amiss. 

The   Frogner  River  flowed  right  past  the  front  door  at 


NANSEN'S  ANCESTRY  AND    C/f/LDlfOOD 


19 


■^.-m^^^ 


^, .'  • 


>^  -^  ^5 


.^•"<r 


i*^' 


CREAT    I'KOK.N  — THK    DWELLlNli-HOUSE 

Froen,  and  here  Fridtjof  and  his  younger  brother  would 
bathe  in  the  fresh  of  the  evening,  in  the  coldest  pool  they 
could  find.  Indeed,  the  younger  of  the  two  would  some- 
times nearly  perish  with  the  cold,  so  that  after  coming  out 
of  the  water  he  had  to  be  dragged  about  at  a  l^risk  trot,  m 
tlic  costume  which  preceded  all  fashions  and  modes  of 
dress,  in  order  to  keep  life  and  warmth  in  his  body. 

Into  this  same  river  they  fell  through  the  ice  in  tlie 
winter,  and  when  their  mother  appeared  on  the  scene  she 
found  Fridtjof  in  the  act  of  fishing  his  brother  out.  And 
it  was  in  the  Frogner  River  that  Fridtjof  himself  came 
near  losing  liis  life. 

Hut   it  also  presented   a  peaceful    means  of  livelihood. 


30 


.y.!.ysj-:.v  ix  the  frozen  world 


They  selected  from  among  the  pea-sticks  those  made  of 
juniper,  rolled    their  trousers  well   up,  and   went  digging 

among  the  decayed  leaves  in 
the  garden  for  bait,  which 
they  stored  in  tlie  turned-up 
portion  of  their  breeches. 
Then  they  went  and  fished 
for  trout  or  minnows.  Now 
and  then  the  hook  would  go 
astray  and  stick  fast  in  Fridt- 
jofs  under  lip ;  whereupon 
Mrs.  Nansen  would  have  re- 
course to  father's  razor,  make 
a  resolute  incision  and  extract 
the  foreign  body.  No  fuss  or 
pother  on  cither  side.  Not 
so  mucli  as  a  sound. 

Here  at  Froen  he  first  ran 
his  liead  against  tlie  ice  — 
the  rough  ice  in  the  yard. 
When  the  little  five-year-old  rushed  into  the  kitchen,  there 
was  scarcelv  a  white  sj^ot  left  on  his  face,  for  the  blood 
that  trickled  down  it.  lie  would  not  shed  a  tear,  and  was 
only  afraid  of  being  scolded.  But  from  that  day  to  this 
he  wear.s  liis  first  ice-nicdal  in  tlie  shape  of  a  scar. 

They  hunted  sciuirrcls  with  dog  and  bow.  "Storm,"  the 
dog,  would  chase  the  squirrels  up  trees,  where  the  little 
creatures  found  a  tolerably  secure  asylum  ;  for  the  arrows 
never  hit  them.  T'inally,  T'ridtjof,  inspired  by  Indian  tales, 
hit  upon  a  devilish  device  which  he  thought  must  |)rove 
fatal.  1  \c  anointed  the  arrow-head  with  the  juice  of  a 
poisonous    mushroom,   so    that   a   wound    from    it    meant 


NANSKN    AS    A    CHILD 


NANSEN'S  ANCESTRY  A. YD    CIIILDIWOn 


CLTtain  dcatli.  But  the  arrows  somehow  did  no  more  ex- 
ecution, although  he  also  tii)ped  them  willi  melted  lead 
to  make  them  carry  better. 

After  that  he  took  to  a  new  \'ariety  of  weapon  — 
cannons.  He  stuffed  them  to  tlie  muzzle  with  powder, 
but  could  not  get  it  to  ignite.  Then  he  made  a  maroon, 
and  poked  it  about  so  much  that  it  exploded  in  his  face. 
The  cannon  ultimately  burst ;  and  it  was  again  his 
mother's  task  to  take  him  aside  and  pick  out  the  powder 
grain  by  grain. 

He  himself  tells  the  story  of  his  first  snow-shoes,  and 
his  first  great  leap  :  — 

"  I  am  not  speaking  of  the  very  first  pair  of  all  —  they 
were  precious  poor  ones,  cut 
down  from  cast-off  snow- 
shoes  which  had  belonged 
to  my  brothers  and  sisters. 
They  w^ere  not  even  of  the 
same  length.  But  Mr.  Fabri- 
tius,  the  printer,  took  jMty 
upon  me ;  '  I  '11  give  }'ou  a 
pair  of  snow-shoes,'  he  said. 
Then  spring  came  and  then 
summer,  and  with  the  best  will 
in  the  world  one  could  n't 
go  snow-shoeing.  But  Fa- 
britius's  promise  sang  in  my 
ears,  and  no  sooner  had  the 
autumn  come  and  the  fields 

begun  to  whiten  with  hoar-frost  of  a  morning,  than  I 
placed  myself  right  in  his  way,  where  I  knew  he  would 
come  driving  by. 


NANSKN    AS    A    KOY 


22  X.L\S/:X   /\    'J HE    I-KOZE.\    WORLD 

•  •  1  >a\  !      What  al)t)Ut  those  snow-shoes  ? ' 

•  •  \'ou  shall  have  them  right  enough,'  he  said,  and 
laughed.  Hut  I  returned  to  the  charge  da)-  after  day: 
'  What  about  those  snow-shoes?' 

"  Then  came  winter.  I  can  still  see  my  sister  standing 
in  the  middle  of  the  room  with  a  long,  long  parcel  which 
she  said  was  for  me.  I  thought  she  said,  too,  it  was  from 
Paris.  Hut  that  was  a  mistake,  for  it  was  the  snow-shoes 
from  Fabritius  —  a  pair  of  red-lacquered  ash  snow-shoes 
with  black  strij^es.  And  there  was  a  long  staff  too,  with 
shining  blue-lacquered  shaft  and  knob.  I  used  these 
snow-shoes  for  ten  )'ears.  It  was  on  them  I  made  my 
fir.st  big  jumjj  on  Huseby  Hill,  where  at  that  time  the 
great  snow-^hoe  races  were  held.  We  boys  were  not 
allowed  to  go  there.  W^e  might  range  all  the  other  hills 
round  about,  but  the  Huseby  Hill  was  forbidden.  But 
we  could  see  it  from  Frben,  and  it  lured  us  day  after  day 
till  we  could  n't  resist  it  any  longer.  At  first  I  started 
frnm  the  middle  of  the  hill,  like  most  of  the  other  boys, 
and  all  went  well.  Hut  presently  I  saw  there  were  one 
or  two  who  started  from  the  top ;  so  of  course  I  had 
to  try  it.  Off  I  set,  came  at  frantic  speed  to  the  jump, 
sailed  for  what  seemed  a  long  time  in  space,  and  ran 
my  snow-shoes  deep  into  a  snow-drift.  W'e  did  n't  have 
our  shoes  fastened  on  in  those  days,  so  they  remained 
sticking  in  the  drift,  while  I,  head  first,  described  a  fine 
arc  in  the  air.  I  had  such  way  on,  too,  that  when  I 
came  down  again  I  bored  into  the  snow  u])  to  my  waist. 
There  was  a  moment's  hush  on  the  hill.  The  boys 
thought  I  had  broken  my  neck.  But  as  soon  as  they 
saw  there  was  life  in  me,  and  that  I  was  beginning  to 
scramble  out,  a  shout  of  mocking  laughter  went   up;  an 


NANSEN'S  ANCESTRY  AND    Cini.DHOOD  23 

endless  roar  of  derision  over  the  entire  hill  from  lojj  to 
bottom. 

"After  that,  I  took  j^art  in  the  lluseby  Mill  races  and 
won  a  prize.  But  I  didn't  take  it  home;  for  I  was  put 
to  shame  on  that  occasion  as  well.  It  was  the  first  time 
I  liad  seen  the  Telemark  peasants  snow-shoeing,  and  I 
recognized  at  a  <'lance  that  I  was  n't  to  be  mentioned 
in  the  same  breath  with  them.  They  used  no  staff;  they 
simply  went  ahead  and  made  the  leap  without  trusting  to 
anything  but  the  strength  of  their  muscles  and  the  firm, 
lithe  carriage  of  their  bodies.  I  saw  that  this  was  the 
only  proper  way.  Until  I  had  mastered  it,  I  would  n't 
have  any  prize." 

He  was  a  terrible  one  for  fallinc:  into  brown  studies. 
Between  putting  on  the  first  and  the  second  stocking  of 
a  morning,  there  was  always  a  prolonged  interval.  Then 
his  brothers  and  sisters  would  call  out,  "  There 's  the 
duffer  at  it  again !  You  '11  never  come  to  any  good, 
you  're  such  a  dawdler." 

He  was  always  bent  on  getting  to  the  bottom  of  every- 
thing. He  asked  so  many  questions,  says  one  of  his  older 
friends,  that  it  made  one  absolutely  ill.  "  I\Iany  a  time 
have  I  given  him  a  thundering  scolding  for  this  everlast- 
ing '  Why }  —  Why  1  —  Why  ? '  "  The  arrival  of  a  sewing- 
machine  at  Froen  naturally  aroused  the  demon  of  curios- 
ity in  all  his  virulence.  He  m.ust  find  out  what  kind  of 
animal  this  was.  So  he  took  it  all  to  pieces,  and  when 
his  mother  came  back  from  town,  the  machine  was  the 
most  disjointed  ])uzzle  imagina])le.  If  tradition  is  to  be 
trusted,  however,  he  did  not  give  in  until  he  hatl  put  it  all 
together  again. 


CHAPTER    II 

VOI'TII 

If,  weary  ni  the  soft  nrace  of  the  Christiania  Valley, 
one  turns  and  gazes  northward  from  the  tower  on  Try- 
vand  Height,  one  is  confronted,  as  far  as  eye  can  see, 
with  blue-black  forests  — forests  and  nothing  but  forests, 
ridge  behind  ridge,  on  and  on  to  the  farthest  verge  of 
the  horizon. 

This  is  Nordmarken,  an  unbroken  stretch  of  Nor- 
wegian woodland,  many  square  miles  in  extent,  a  lonely 
world  of  narrow  valleys,  abruj^t  heights,  secluded  glassy 
lakes,  and  foaming  rivers. 

Into  this  solitude  no  murmur  from  the  busy  capital 
ever  penetrates,  not  even  the  sound  of  a  panting  engine 
or  the  warning  whistle  of  a  steamboat  cautiously  thread- 
ing the  intricacies  of  the  fjord  in  the  dense  sea-fog. 

At  the  frontier  of  Nordmarken  the  comforts  of  civiliza- 
tion instantaneously  stop  short.  When  you  have  said 
good-bye  to  the  great  hotels  on  the  slopes  of  the  Frogner 
Salter,  and  plunged  into  these  interminable  forests,  you 
may  wander  for  days  without  coming  across  anything 
remotely  resembling  an  hotel. 

Yes,  here  all  is  peaceful  and  still  —  l^reathlessly  still  — 
when  summer  sjDreads  her  light  veil  oxer  the  glassy  lakes 
and  dark  green  leas,  when  the  black-grouse  drowses  in 
the  heather,  and  even  the  thrush  in  the  ))ine-tops  hushes 
his  sf)n[r. 


NANSEN'S    YOUTH  25 

Tlicrc  is  breathless  stillness,  too,  of  a  clear  autumn 
evening"  when  the  birch  sees  its  yellow  silk,  and  the  aspen 
its  o:or2:cous  scarlet,  reflected  in  the  black  mirror  of  the 
lake,  framed  in  the  delicate  pale  red  of  the  heather. 

Again  there  is  breathless  stillness  —  perhaps  even  more 
complete  —  during  the  long  night  of  winter,  when  the 
stars  glitter  over  the  snow-laden  forest  and  the  white- 
frozen  surface  oU  the  lake,  and  110  sound  is  heard  save  the 
soft  trickle  of  the  ice-bound  river. 

In  the  shooting  and  fishing  season  it  is  no  longer  the 
Great  Pan  who  reigns.  Fishing-rods  by  the  score  hang 
over  the  river  like  a  bending  wood,  and  the  guns  of  the 
city  sportsmen  keep  up  a  continual  popping  and  banging 
in  a  spirit  of  noisy  competition.  Even  the  boundless 
abundance  of  fish  and  game  is  thus  on  the  decline. 
Waterworks  have  interfered  with  the  spawning,  dam  after 
dam  bars  the  fishes'  way  up  stream,  and  the  river  bed  lies 
dry  for  weeks  together. 

It  was  not  so  twenty  years  ago,  in  Fridtjof  Nansen's 
boyhood.  He  was  among  the  few,  the  pioneers,  the  elect. 
7"hat  Robinson  Crusoe  existence  which  less  favored  boys 
must  be  content  to  live  in  imagination  was  vouchsafed  to 
him  in  its  glorious  reality.  Of  his  first  expedition  to  the 
borders  of  that  Promised  Land  he  has  himself  written  as 
follows  :  — 

"  I  showed  no  great  intrepidity  on  my  first  voyage  of 
discovery,  although  it  went  no  farther  than  to  Sorkedal. 

"  I  was  somewhere  about  ten  or  eleven  at  the  time,  and 
up  in  Sorkedal  lived  several  boys  who  were  friends  of 
mine,  and  who  had  asked  my  brothers  and  myself  to  come 
and  see  them.  One  afternoon  in  June,  as  we  were  sitting- 
out  on  the  steps,  it  came  over  us  all  of  a  sudden   that  we 


26  X.l.VS£N  IN  THE   J'ROZEX    WORLD 

reallv  ought  to  act  upon  this  invitation.  W'c  had  a  notion 
that  we  ought  to  ask  our  parents'  leave,  and  an  equally 
clear  notion  that  we  should  n't  get  it  if  we  did.  Father 
and  mother  were  taking  a  siesta;  we  dared  not  disturb 
them,  and  if  we  waited  till  they  awakened  it  would  be  too 
late  to  go.  So  we  took  French  leave  and  slipped  off. 
The  first  part  of  the  way  was  familiar  to  us.  We  knew 
where  Engeland  lay,  and  made  our  waytto  Bogstad  with- 
out much  hesitation.  After  that  we  were  rather  at  sea; 
but  we  asked  our  way  from  point  to  point,  first  to  the 
Sorkedal  church,  and  after  that  to  the  farm  where  the 
boys  lived.  By  the  time  we  got  there  it  was  seven  o'clock 
in  the  evening.  Then  we  had  to  play  with  our  friends 
and  go  and  see  the  barn,  and  afterwards  to  do  a  little  fish- 
ing. But  it  was  n't  any  real  fun.  Our  consciences  were 
so  bad  that  we  had  no  peace  for  so  much  as  half  an  hour. 
Then  the  time  came  for  us  to  go  home,  and  our  hearts 
sank  so  dreadfully  that  the  way  back  seemed  ever  so  much 
wearier  than  the  way  out.  The  youngest  soon  became 
footsore,  and  it  was  a  melanchol}-  procession  that  slowly 
dracrcred  itself  towards  Froen  farm  at  eleven  o'clock  that 
night.  W'e  saw  from  a  long  way  off  that  people  were 
afoot ;  no  doubt  they  had  been  searching  for  us.  We  felt 
anything  but  fearless.  As  we  turned  the  corner,  mother 
came  towards  us.  '  Is  that  you,  boys.?'  '  Now  we're  in  for 
it! '  we  thought.     '  Where  have  you  been  1 '  mother  asked. 

"Well,  wc  had  been  to  Sorkedal.  Now  for  it!  But 
mother  only  said  in  an  odd  way :  '  You  are  strange  boys  ! ' 
And  she  had  tears  in  her  eyes. 

"  I'^ancy,  not  the  least  bit  of  a  scolding !  Fancy  getting 
to  bed  with  our  blistered  feet,  and  without  the  least  bit  of 
a  scolding  ! 


NANSjEN'S    youth  27 

"  Aiul  the  most  L'xtniordinary  part  of  it  was  that  a  few 
clays  later  we  were  allowed  to  go  again  to  Sorkedal. 
Could  it  be  that  father  and  mother  had  come  to  think 
tliat  they  had  been  a  little  too  strict  with  us  ? 

"  While  I  was  in  my  teens,  I  used  to  pass  weeks  at  a 
time  alone  in  the  forest.  I  disliked  having  any  equii^ment 
for  my  exjieditions.  1  managed  with  a  crust  of  bread  and 
broiled  my  fish  on  the  embers.  I  loved  to  live  like  Rob- 
inson Crusoe  up  there  in  the  wilderness." 

But  frequently  Nansen  was  accompanied  by  his  brother 
and  an  older  member  of  the  famih',  who  hap])encd  to  be 
an  enthusiastic  huntsman  and  fislierman.  And  in  this 
way,  from  the  age  of  twelve  upwards,  the  boys  trained 
themselves  to  bear  those  fatii^ues  which  are  the  best  thiniJ^ 
in  the  world  for  hardening  the  muscles.  The  tramp 
became  longer  and  longer,  they  pushed  on  farther  and 
farther  afield,  as  they  grew  older  ;  first  to  Sorkedal  —  then 
to  Langli  River — then  Svarten  (the  Black  Lake)  —  San- 
dungen  —  Katnosa. 

The  woods  of  Nordmarken  offered  plenty  of  long  runs 
for  a  ''ski-runner''  who  preferred  to  go  his  own  way.  It 
was  here  that  a  feelinsf  for  nature  was  fostered  in  him  —  a 
sense  of  the  beauty  of  winter  and  summer,  and  of  shifting 
atmospheric  moods  which  do  not  as  a  rule  appeal  to  boys. 
Here  his  tissues  were  hardened  to  face  the  Polar  winters, 
while  he  stood  in  the  crackling  frost  waiting  for  the  hare, 
and  envying  him  his  warm  white  fur.  It  was  hereabouts 
(at  Fyllingen)  that  he  was  once  hare-hunting  with  his 
brother  for  thirteen  days  on  end.  At  the  last  they  had 
nothing  to  live  on  but  potato  cakes,  and  were  half  starxed, 
botli  thev  and  their  dog.  Then  came  killing-day  at  the 
farm,  and  the  brothers  consumed  black-puddings  till   they 


2S  .\:/.\'.V^-\'  IN  THE   FROZEN   WORLD 

nearly  bui>l.  When  the  time  came  to  go  home,  iM-idtjof 
had  to  slioulder  seven  hares,  slim-  Ijv  the  legs.  He 
slipped,  fell  forwards,  and  all  the  hares  shot  out  like  the 
rays  of  a  halo  round  his  head. 

There  was  one  thing  that  used  to  annoy  his  snow- 
shoeing  cronies  in  those  days,  and  that  was  his  total  care- 
lessness as  to  creature  comforts.  If  he  happened  to 
look  from  the  tower  on  Tryvand's  Height  away  over  to 
Stubdal,  twenty  miles  off,  a  whim  would  all  of  a  sudden 
seize  him,  and  nothing  would  serve  but  he  must  set  off 
without  taking  a  crumb  of  food  with  him.  He  on  one 
occasion  descended  upon  a  farm  in  Stubdal  so  ravenously 
hungry  that  the  people  did  not  forget  his  visit  for  many 
a  day. 

Another  time  he  and  a  party  of  his  friends  set  off  on  a 
long  snow-shoeing  expedition,  each  with  his  provision  waU 
let  on  his  back  —  each  one,  that  is  to  say,  except  Fridtjof 
Nansen.  But  when  they  got  to  the  first  resting-place  he 
unbuttoned  his  jacket  and  took  out  of  his  breast  pocket 
—  concealed  deep  within  tlie  lining  —  several  pancakes, 
which  were  as  hot  after  the  snow-shoeing  as  if  they  had 
just  come  off  the  pan.  He  held  them  up  smoking: 
"  Have  a  pancake,  any  of  you  fellows }  "  None  of  them 
were  dainty,  but  the  pancakes  seemed  even  less  so,  and 
they  declined  with  thanks.  "  WY'll,"  he  said,  "  the  more 
fools  you,  for  let  me  tell  you  there's  jam  in  them!"  It 
is  in  such  traits  that  he  shows  his  kinship  with  the  deni- 
zens of  the  great  forests.  He  has  the  recklessness  of  the 
hunter  and  the  lumberman,  their  daring  and  headlong 
spirits.  He  is  a  typical  east-country  boy.  But  at  the 
same  time  there  is  systematic  intention  in  the  training  to 
which  he  subjects  himself;  his  alert  ambition  reinforces 


NANSEN'S    YOUTH  29 

his  delight  in  uinariii^hcd  nature,  and  liis  tendency  to 
set  at  defiance  the  customs  of  civiHzation.  "  The  least 
possible  "  is  early  his  ideal,  and  he  has  not  the  slightest 
objection  to  shocking  public  opinion  in  acting  up  to  his 
principles.  It  never  occurs  to  him  to  doubt  that  it  is  he 
who  is  right  and  the  world  that  is  wrong.  He  appears  to 
have  been  one  of  the  first  consistent  disci])les  of  Jaeger 
in  Christiania,  and  later  on,  in  his  letters  from  Bergen,  he 
boasts  that  now  the  wool  theory  is  admitted  on  all  hands. 
He  quotes  in  this  connection  one  of  his  favorite  sayings: 
"  There  was  a  man  in  a  madhouse  in  London,  who  used 
to  say:  'I  said  the  world  was  crazy,  but  the  world  said 
that  I  was  crazy,  and  so  they  put  me  here.'  " 

One  thing  his  friends  had  to  guard  against :  they  must 
never  say  to  him  that  anything  was  impossible,  for  that 
was  inevitably  the  signal  for  him  to  attempt  it.  His  boy- 
ish impetuosity  brought  him  on  one  occasion  to  death  s 
door  —  to  the  very  verge  of  one  of  those  leaps  which 
even  the  most  expert  athlete  cannot  clear. 

It  was  in  1.S7S.  On  a  walking  tour  with  his  brother 
Alexander,  he  came  to  Gjendin  in  the  Jotunheim,  and 
must  needs  climb  the  Svartdal  Peak.  There  was  a  way 
round  the  back  of  the  mountain  which  was  more  or  less 
practical3]e,  but  h^'idtjof  would  have  none  of  that;  he  must 
of  course  go  straight  up  the  precipitous  black  face  of  the 
hill.  "  As  we  got  up  towards  the  peak,"  his  brother  relates, 
"  there  was  a  snow-field  which  we  had  to  cross.  Beyond 
the  snow-field  lay  the  precipice,  straight  down  into  the 
valley.  I  had  alread)-  had  several  attacks  of  giddiness,  so 
that  iM-idtjof  had  given  me  his  alpenstock,  and  was  with- 
out it  when  it  came  to  crossing  the  glacier.  Instead  of 
going  carefully  stcj)  by  step,  as  he  would  do  now,  he  goes 


30  A'AXS/iN  IN  THE  FKOZEX    WORLD 

at  it  witli  a  ru^li,  slips,  and  begins  to  slide  down.  I  can 
see  him  turn  jxale.  A  few  seconds  more,  and  he  wil]  lie 
crushed  to  death  in  the  valley.  He  digs  his  heels  and 
nails  into  the  ice,  and  brings  himself  to  a  standstill  in  the 
nick  of  time.  That  moment  I  shall  never  forget.  Nor 
shall  I  forget  his  coming  down  to  the  tourist  chalet  and 
disappearing  into  the  trousers  which  the  burly  secretary 
of  the  Tourist  Club,  N.  G.  Dielrichson.  had  to  lend  him, 
an  essential  part  of  his  own  ha\ing  yielded  to  the  friction 
of  the  glacier." 

The  same  vear  in  which  I^-idtjof  Nansen  was  in  the 
lotunheim.  he  had  his  first  experience  of  j^tarmigan  shoot- 
ing in  the  mountains, —  Norefjeld  and  thereabouts, —  and 
it  was  then  they  went  on  a  tramp  so  exhausting  that  one 
of  his  brothers  fell  asleep  far  up  on  the  heights,  and  had 
to  be  hauled  along  with  the  greatest  difficulty.  It  was 
probably  these  early  hunting  expeditions  through  the  for- 
est and  over  the  mountain  ])lateaux  that  gave  him  his  taste 
for  the  accurate  observation  of  animal  life,  and  thus  sup- 
plied the  initial  impulse  towards  the  line  of  study  which 
he  finally  chose.  In  the  year  iS8o  he  matriculated  with 
sufiicient  credit  to  prove  that  his  distractions  during 
schooltime  had  not  been  so  absorbing  as  to  prevent  him 
from  settling  down  to  work  when  the  moment  arrived. 
He  got  a  first  class  in  all  natural  science  subjects,  mathe- 
matics, and  history;  and  when  in  December,  i88i,he\vent 
up  for  his  second  examination,  he  was  classed  as  latidabilis 
prcc  ceteris.  He  ajDpears  about  this  time  to  have  been  in 
some  uncertainty  as  to  his  choice  of  a  career.  He  was 
entered  as  a  cadet  at  the  military  academy,  but  the  nomi- 
nation was  cancelled  when  he  finally  resolved  to  continue 


NANSEN'S    YOCTTr  31 

his  scientific  studies,  lie  never  contemplated  going  into 
the  medical  profession,  Ijiit  had  at  one  time  an  idea  of 
takino-  the  first  part  of  the  medical  examination.  It  ended, 
however,  in  his  choosing  a  special  branch,  Zoology.  As 
early  as  January,  18S2,  he  applies  to  Professor  Collett  for 
advice.  The  Professor  happens  to  rememljcr  how  lie  liim- 
self  has  been  urged  by  Arctic  seamen  to  go  witli  them 
and  prosecute  his  studies  during  a  sealing  expedition. 
This  ought  to  be  the  very  thing  for  Nansen.  He  is  an 
expert  sportsman  and  a  good  shot  —  why  should  he  not 
go  to  the  Arctic  regions  on  board  a  sealing  vessel,  niake 
his  observations,  keep  a  record,  and  train  himself  for  de- 
scriptive zoological  research.'^  Nansen  came  to  see  him, 
and  he  made  the  suggestion,  which  took  liold  of  the  young 
man  at  once.  /\  week  later  he  again  called  on  the  Pro- 
fessor, having  in  the  mean  time  spoken  to  CajDtain  Kref- 
ting  of  the  sealer  Vikmg,  and  arranged  matters  with  him. 
On  January  23,  Nansen's  father  telegraphed  to  an  old 
friend  in  Arendal  asking  him  to  secure  the  shi])-owncrs' 
sanction.  The  friend  w^as  able,  when  called  upon,  to  de- 
clare that  P^ridtjof  Nansen  was  a  sturdy,  strapping  fellow, 
ready  with  his  hands,  and  capable  of  great  endurance,  so 
that,  to  the  best  of  the  witness's  belief,  he  would  proxe  a 
useful  and  desirable  member  of  the  expedition.  Permis- 
sion was  instantly  wired  back,  and  Nansen,  having  em- 
ployed the  brief  interval  at  the  university  in  studying  the 
anatomy  of  the  seal,  sailed  from  the  port  of  Arendal  on 
board  the  Viking  or\  Saturday,  March  11. 

The  cruise  lasted  five  months;  during  which  Nansen 
shot  about  five  hundred  large  seals,  and  fourteen  Polar 
bears.  The  liking  got  fast  in  the  ice  off  the  east  coast 
of  Greenland,  and   it  was   there   that  the  idea  occurred  to 


32 


N.INSEN  IN  THE  FROZEN   WORLD 


Nanscn  that  it  would  be  practicable  to  land  on  the  coast 
and  cross  the  inland  ice. 

W'e  ha\-e  Fridtjof  Nansen's  own  word  for  it  that  these 
weeks  off  the  east  coast  of  Greenland  exercised  a  deter- 
mining influence  over  him.  "  By  day  the  peaks  and  the 
glaciers  lay  glittering  beyond  the  drift  ice  ;  in  tlie  evening 
and  at  niirht.  when   the   sun    tinoed   them  with   color  and 


set  air  and  clouds  on  fire  behind  them,  their  wild  beauty 
was  thrown  into  even  bolder  relief." 

He  brooded  incessantly  over  plans  for  reaching  that 
coast  which  so  many  have  sought  in  vain.  It  must  be 
possible,  he  thought,  t(^  make  your  way  over  the  ice,  drag- 
ging your  Ijoat  along  with  you.  He  wanted  to  set  off 
alone  and  walk  ashore,  but  permission  was  refused  him. 
Already  he  had  begun  to  entertain  notions  of  penetrating 


NANSEN'S    YOUTH  n 

to  ihc  heart  of  the  country;  and  within  a  year  of  his 
return  to  Norway  the  idea  of  crossing  Greenland  on 
snow-shoes  had  taken  firm  root  in  his  mind. 

While  Fridtjof  Nansen  was  swimming  across  the  rifts 
in  the  ice  after  Polar  bears,  the  Director-in-Chicf  of  the 
Bergen  Museum,  Dr.  Danielssen,  was  turning  things  over 
in  his  mind.  He  needed  a  new  assistant.  Before  the 
bear-hunter  had  reached  Christian ia,  Professor  Robert 
CoUett  was  applied  to  by  telegraph  for  his  advice.  He 
thought  instantly  of  Nansen,  and  asked  him,  the  moment 
he  set  foot  on  shore,  if  he  would  care  to  become  Curator 
{Konservator)  of  the  Bergen  Museum.  He  agreed  at  once. 
He  was  not  yet  twenty-one,  and  had  done  nothing  what- 
ever to  make  his  mark  in  science  ;  so  it  was  certainly  a 
very  tempting  offer.  He  held  the  position  of  Curator  of 
the  Bergen  Museum  till  1888,  during  which  time  he  was 
engaged  in  carrying  on  zoological  investigations. 

Few  things  are  more  characteristic  of  Nansen  than  the 
way  in  which  he  passed  froni  Polar  bear-hunting  to  the 
work-room  of  the  Bergen  Museum.  "  I  have  become  an 
absolute  first-class  stick-in-the-mud,"  he  says  in  a  letter  to 
his  father  as  early  as  October  17,  1882.  He,  the  athlete 
and  sportsman  par  excellence,  has  to  "  reassure  "  his  father 
by  informing  him  that  he  is  a  member  of  two  gymnastic 
societies  !  He  throws  himself  into  his  scientific  work  as 
passionately  as  if  it  were  the  most  thrilling  of  adventures. 
He  pursues  the  paltriest  insect  revealed  by  the  micro- 
scope no  less  impetuously  than  he  pursued  the  bears 
over  the  Arctic  wastes.  In  the  course  of  his  studies  of  the 
nervous  system,  Nansen  became  acquainted  with  the  chro- 
mic silver  method  of  staining  the  nerve  fibres  invented 
by  Professor  Golgi  of  Pavia. 

3 


34  .y.lXSFA'  IX  THE    FROZEX    WORLD 

In  order  thoroughly  to  familiarize  himself  with  this  im- 
portant auxiliary  to  the  investigations  which  had  now  oc- 
cupied him  for  several  years,  he  determined,  in  the  spring 
of  i8S6,  to  go  to  Italy.  Partly  under  Golgi's  personal 
guidance,  and  partly  at  the  Zoological  Station  in  Naples, 
where  he  would  find  ample  material,  he  hoped  to  be  able 
to  carry  his  researches  somewhat  farther  than  had  been 
possible  with  the  methods  hitherto  in  vogue.  The  previ- 
ous year,  at  the  Bergen  Museum,  he  had  won  the  Joachim 
Friele  gold  medal  for  his  work  on  the  myzostoma.  He 
had  taken  the  medal  in  copper,  and  applied  the  value  of 
the  gold  to  his  travelling  expenses. 

After  a  short  stay  in  Pavia,  where  he  conferred  with 
Professor  Golgi  and  Dr.  Fusari,  he  went  on  to  Naples, 
where  he  spent  the  following  months,  from  April  till  June, 
1886,  at  the  celebrated  Zoological  Station. 

The  principal  results  of  his  studies  he  embodied  in  sev- 
eral bioloijical  works;  for  "The  Structure  and  Combina- 
tion  of  the  Histological  Elements  of  the  Central  Nervous 
System  "  Nansen  received  his  doctors  degree. 

By  the  great  public,  PVidtjof  Nansen  is  known  and  ad- 
mired chiefly  as  the  dauntless  explorer  of  the  unknown 
wastes  of  the  North  Pole.  The  above  may  help  to  im- 
press upon  the  jniblic,  that  Nansen  is  also  an  investigator 
of  note  in  another  domain,  which,  though  it  does  not 
attract  so  much  attention,  perhaps  deserves  it  no  less. 

Voyages  of  discovery  in  the  quiet  study,  in  the  labora- 
tory, in  the  world  of  the  microscope,  in  Nature's  secret 
workshop,  —  these  too  minister  to  the  enlightenment  of 
mankind  and  the  progress  of  civilization.  In  this  field 
PVidtjof  Nansen  ])roved  himself  a  born  discoverer,  and,  at 
an  unusually  early  age,  developed  an  activity  which  was 
rich  in  j^romise. 


CHAPTER    III 

NANSEn's    GREENLAND    EXPEDITION  PREPARATIONS PLAN 

EQUIPMENT 

"  One  winter  evening  in  'Sy,''  writes  Dr.  Grieg,  "  I  sat 
in  my  den  at  3A  Park\'eien,  absorbed  in  my  work.  Sud- 
denly the  door  was  ilung  wide  open,  and  in  stalked 
Nansen,  witli  liis  long-haired,  badly  trained  dog  Jenny. 
Without  pretending  to  be  an  authority  on  the  subject, 
it  is  my  opinion  that  Nansen  is  too  absent-minded  to  be 
able  to  train  good  sporting  dogs.  The  evening  was  cold, 
so  that  even  Nansen  had  thrown  his  plaid  over  his  shoul- 
ders.    He  sat  down  on  the  sofa  just  opposite  me. 

" '  Uo  you  know  wliat  I'm  going  to  set  about  now  .'^ ' 
he  said.  '  I  mean  to  have  a  trv  at  crossino-  Greenland.' 
And  he  set  forth  his  i)lans  with  the  aid  of  my  old  atlas, 
which  I  shall  always  associate  with  the  memory  of  that 
evening.  He  was  excited  and  wrought-up,  and,  at  that 
stage,  far  from  being  certain,  or  even  hopeful,  of  finding 
things  go  easily.  I  saw  he  wanted  objections  to  discuss, 
and  I  supplied  him  with  what  occurred  to  me,  though  I 
knew  nothing  of  the  subject.  '  It  would  be  easiest  to 
make  the  crossing  lower  down,  you  understand,'  he  said, 
'  but  the  real  thing  will  be  to  show  the  world  that  Green- 
land can   ]je    crossed    so  far  north    as   this '  and    he 

pointed  out  wIuti.'  he  had  at  fu'st  ])laniu'd  to  start.  I  le 
little  dreamed  that  this  stretch  of  coast,  which  he  treated 
so    lightly  that   evening,   would   })rove  so   hard   a    nut   to 


36  Ml.VSAW  IN  THE  FROZEN    WORLD 

crack.  He  .said  he  was  going  to  Stockholm.  'What 
arc  you  going  to  do  there?'  'To  look  up  Nordenskjold, 
and  ask  him  to  give  me  his  opinion  of  my  scheme.  I 
shall  just  wait  to  take  my  doctor's  degree  in  the  spring, 
and  then  off  to  Greenland.  It  will  be  a  hard  spring,  old 
man,  but  pooh  !    I  shall  manage  it.' 

"  Another  friend  had  meanwhile  dropped  in.  We  all 
three  walked  to  Skarpsno,  we  two  every-day  people  mak- 
ing feeble  objections,  he  meeting  them  with  increasing 
warmth  and  with  youthful  emphasis  of  conviction.  He 
would  stake  his  lift  on  the  plan,  and  we  should  see  it 
would  all  go  smoothly.  It  was  like  a  revelation,  in  these 
decadent  days,  to  find  a  man  of  action  ready  to  lay  down 
his  hfe  for  his  idea.  I  was  impressed  and  moved  that 
evening  when  we  parted." 

He  went  to  Stockholm.  It  may  be  noted  at  this  point 
tliat  it  was  in  iS86  that  Peary  and  Maigaard,  with  their 
scanty  equii)ment,  had  made  a  highly  successful  inroad 
upon  the  (ireenland  ice  field,  intended,  as  Peary  had 
expressly  stated  in  his  brief  narrative,  merely  as  a  prelim- 
inary reconnaissance.  Nansen  had  no  time  to  lose  if  he 
did  not  want  to  be  anticipated.  Moreover,  his  zoological 
and  anatomical  labors  w^ere  in  the  mean  time  at  a  stand- 
still. His  great  essay  on  the  histological  elements  of  the 
central  nervous  system  was  finished,  and  could  at  any 
time  be  handed  in  as  a  thesis  for  his  doctor's  degree. 

"When,  on  Thursday,  November  3,  1887,  I  entered  my 
work-rooin,  in  the  Mineralogical  Institute  of  the  Stock- 
holm iligh  School,"  says  Professor  Brogger,  "  my  janitor 
told  me  that  there  had  been  a  Norwegian  asking  for 
me.  I  le  had  not  left  a  card,  and  did  not  say  who  he  was. 
Compatriots  without  a  name  and  without  a  \'isiting-card 


NANSEN'S    GREKXI.AND   KXPEDiriOX  37 

were  no  rarit}'.  It  was  no  doubt  some  one  wantin;^  nie 
to  relieve  him  from  a  momentary  embarrassment.'  'What 
did  he  look  like?'   1  said,  with  a  touch  of  annoyance. 

"  '  Tall  and  fair,'  answered  Andersson. 

"  '  Was  he  well  dressed  } ' 

"'He  hadn't  any  overcoat,'  said  Andersson,  smilini; 
confidentially;  'he  looked  like  a  sailor,  or  something  of 
that  sort.' 

"  Ah,  yes  —  a  sailor  without  an  overcoat!  No  doubt 
the   idea  was  that  I  should   supply  him  with   one.     I  saw 

it  all. 

"  An  hour  or  two  later  in  came  Wille.    '  Have  you  seen 

Nansen  ? ' 

"  '  Nansen  ?  Was  that  the  name  of  the  sailor?  The 
man  without  an  overcoat  ? ' 

"  '  Has  he  no  overcoat  ?  7\t  any  rate  he  's  going  to 
cross  the  Greenland  ice  sheet.'  And  Wille  rushed  off  — 
he  was  in  a  hurry. 

"  After  that  comes  another  of  my  colleagues,  Professor 
Lecke,  the  zoologist.  '  Have  you  seen  Nansen  ?  Is  n't 
he  a  splendid  fellow  ?  He  has  been  telling  me  of  many 
interesting  discoveries  about  the  sex  of  the  myxme  — 
and  about  his  investigations  of  the  nervous  system  too. 
Charming  things  !     Splendid  ! ' 

"  After  all  these  ])reliminaries,  Nansen  at  last  appeared 
in  person  —  tall  and  erect,  broad-shouldered  and  powerful, 
yet  with  the  grace  and  suppleness  of  youth.  His  rather 
rough  hair  was  brushed  back  from  his  massive  forehead. 
He  came  straight  up  to  me  and  gave  me  his  hand  witli  a 
peculiarly  winnmg  smile,  while  he  introduced  himself. 

"  '  You  are  going  to  cross  Greenland  ?  ' 

"  '  Well,  I  'm  thinking  of  it.' 


38  NANSEy  IN  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

"  I  looked  him  in  the  eyes.  There  he  stood  witl^  the 
kindly  smile  on  his  strongly-eiit,  massive  face,  his  com- 
plete self-confidence  awakening  confidence  in  others. 
.Although  his  manner  was  just  the  same  all  the  time, — 
calm,  straightforward,  perhaps  even  a  little  awkward, — 
yet  it  seemed  as  if  he  grew  with  e\ery  word.  This  plan, 
—  \\\\>  .snow-shoe  expedition  from  the  east  coast,  —  which 
a  moment  ago  I  had  regarded  as  an  utterly  crazy  idea, 
became,  in  the  course  of  that  one  conversation,  the  most 
natural  thing  in  the  world.  The  conviction  possessed  me 
all  of  a  sudden :  he  will  do  this  thing,  as  surely  as  we  are 
sittinof  here  and  talking^  about  it. 

"  This  man  whose  name  I  had  never  so  much  as  heard 
until  a  couple  of  hours  before,  had  in  these  few  minutes  — 
quite  naturally  and  inevitably  as  it  seemed  —  made  me 
feel  as  though  I  had  known  him  all  my  days ;  and  with- 
out reflecting  at  all  as  to  how  it  happened,  I  knew^  that  I 
should  be  proud  and  happy  to  be  his  friend  through  life. 

"  '  W'e  '11  go  straight  to  Nordenskjold,'  I  said  ;  and  we 
went.  With  his  sinmilar  dress  —  a  tiorht-fittins:,  dark  blue, 
jersey-like  blouse  or  jacket,  closely  buttoned  up  —  he  did 
not  fail  to  attract  a  certain  amount  of  attention  in  Drott- 
ninggatan  (Queen  Street).  Gustaf  Retzius,  as  I  heard 
afterwards,  took  him  at  first  for  an  acrobat  or  rope- 
dancer. 

"  Well,  we  hunted  up  Nordenskjold,  crossing  the  quiet, 
cloistral  quadrangle  of  the  Academy  of  Science,  which 
has  always  something  awe-inspiring  about  it. 

"  Nordenskjold  was  in  his  laboratory,  as  usual  at  that 
time  in  the  morning.  We  went  through  the  anterooms 
filled  with  mineralogical  specimens  and  cases.  'These 
used  to  be  Berzelius's  quarters,'  I  remarked  to  Nansen  in 


NANSEN'S   GREENLAND  EXPEDITION  39 

passing.  Lindstrom,  the  Professor's  assistant,  jDresently 
appeared,  with  both  hands  full  of  retorts  and  chemicals. 

"  '  The  old  man  is  inside  ;  he  's  up  to  his  eyes  in  work,' 
he  whispered  quietly  to  me. 

"  There,  in  the  work-room,  '  old  man  Nor  '  was  wander- 
ing around  among  his  minerals.  I  can  never  see  his 
strong,  broad  back,  without  thinking  of  a  story  in  connec- 
tion with  his  boat  expedition  up  the  Yenisei  in  1875.  At 
one  point,  where  the  seas  repeatedly  threatened  to  swamp 
the  boat,  Nordenskjold  took  his  seat  on  the  after  gunwale, 
and  let  the  ice-cold  waves  break  on  his  broad  back. 
There  he  sat  for  hours,  doing  duty,  in  a  literal  sense,  as  a 
breakwater.     Of  such  stuff  are  Arctic  explorers  made. 

"  I  greeted  Nordenskjold  and  performed  the  introduc- 
tion. '  Curator  Nansen,  of  Bergen.  He  intends  to  cross 
the  Greenland  ice  sheet ' 

"  '  Good  heavens ! ' 

" '  And  he  w^ould  like  to  consult  you  upon  the  matter.' 

"  '  I  'm  delisfhted  to  see  him.  So  !  Mr.  Nansen  intends 
to  cross  Greenland  ? ' 

"  The  bombshell  had  fallen.  The  friendly,  amiable,  but 
somewhat  absent  expression  he  had  worn  an  instant  be- 
fore had  vanished,  and  his  liveliest  interest  w^as  aroused. 
He  seemed  to  be  scanning  the  young  man  from  head  to 
foot,  in  order  to  see  what  sort  of  stuff  he  had  in  him. 
Then  he  burst  out  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye:  'I  shall 
make  Mr.  Nansen  a  present  of  a  pair  of  excellent  boots ! 
Indeed,  I  'm  not  joking ;  it 's  a  very  important  and  serious 
matter  to  have  your  foot-gear  of  the  best  quality.' 

"  The  ice  is  broken.  Nansen  expounds,  Nordenskjold 
nods  a  little  skeptically  now  and  then,  and  throws  in  a 
question  or  two.     He  no   doubt   regarded   the  plan  —  at 


40  NAXSEN  AV  THE   FROZEN  WORLD 

least  so  it  seemed  to  me  —  as  foolliardy,  but  not  absolutely 
impracticable.  It  was  obvious  that  Nansen's  personality 
had  instantly  made  a  strong  impression  on  him.  He  was 
at  once  prepared,  in  the  most  cordial  manner,  to  place  the 
results  of  his  own  experience  at  the  young  man's  service. 

*'  There  were  of  course  numbers  of  details  to  be  irone 
into:  the  Laplanders,  snow-shoes,  sledges,  and  boats  — 
and  then  the  question  whether  the  drift  ice  could  be 
crossed  as  Nansen  had  planned.  But  '  the  old  man  was 
up  to  his  eyes  in  work,'  and  it  was  agreed  that  Nansen 
should  come  again.  Meanwhile,  we  were  to  meet  the 
same  evening,  at  the  Geological  Society.  As  we  were 
leaving  I  said  aside  to  Nordenskjold,  '  \\(i\\,  wliat  do  you 
think  ?     I  back  him  to  do  it.' 

" '  I  dare  say  you  're  right,'  answered  Nordenskjold. 
But  the  skeptical  expression  was  again  to  the  fore. 

"  After  the  meeting  at  the  Geological  Society,  Nansen 
accompanied  me  home.  It  was  pretty  well  on  in  the 
evening.  W'liile  we  were  sitting  talking,  he  genial  and  at 
his  ease,  I  quite  absorbed  in  all  these  new  ideas,  there 
came  a  ring  at  the  door,  and  in  walked  Nordenskjold.  I 
at  once  saw  that  he  was  seriously  interested. 

"  We  sat  there  till  the  small  hours,  discussing  Arctic 
and  Antarctic  explorations  in  general,  and  the  Greenland 
expedition  in  |)articu]ar.  It  was  only  four  years  since 
Nordenskjold  himself  had  made  his  last  expedition  on  the 
Greenland  ice  sheet;  and  he  was  at  this  time,  if  I  remem- 
ber rightly,  much  interested  in  arranging  a  combined 
Australian-Swedish  Antarctic  expedition,  in  which  his 
promising  son,  G.  Nordenskjold,^  who  unfortunately  died 
so  early,  was  to  have  taken  part. 

'  Three  years  later  this  young  man  undertook  an  expedition  to  .Spitzbergen. 


NANSKN'S   GREENLAND   EXJ'EDITION  41 

"  1  was  goini;'  tlic  next  day  to  the  usual  l'\)urtl"i  of 
November  banquet  at  the  house  of  the  Norwegian  Secre- 
tary of  State,  and  I  asked  Nanscn  if  he  \vf)u]d  care  to 
liave  an  invitation.  No,  he  could  n't  well  appear  on  such 
an  occasion  —  he  had  only  the  clothes  he  was  wearing. 

'"But  Mr.  Nansen  can  come  and  dine  with  me,  just  as 
he  is,'  suggested  Nordenskjold  with  frank  cordiality;  and 
so  it  was  arranged. 

"  I  cannot  say  whether  Nansen,  when  he  returned  to 
Christiania,  a  couple  of  days  later,  took  with  him  the  'ex- 
cellent boots,'  though  I  know  that  Nordenskjold  after- 
wards sent  him  a  pair  of  snow-spectacles.  But,  boots  or 
no  boots,  he  certainly  took  back  with  him  many  a  valuable 
hint,  and  the  assurance  of  complete  sympathy  on  the  part 
of  the  great  explorer.  When,  nearly  two  years  later,  they 
again  met  in  Stockholm,  the  foolhardy  plan  had  been 
carried  out,  and  the  journey  over  the  inland  ice  from  coast 
to  coast  was  an  accomplished  fact." 

Nansen's  application  to  the  "  Collegium  Academicum  " 
for  the  means  to  carry  out  the  expedition  is  dated  Novem- 
ber II,  1887.  The  very  first  sentence  goes  straight  to 
the  heart  of  the  matter:  "It  is  my  intention  next  sum- 
mer to  undertake  a  journey  across  the  inland  ice  of 
Greenland  from  the  east  to  the  west  coast."  The  amount 
he  asked  for  w'as  5,000  crow^ns  (less  than  300/.).  It  is  so 
infinitesimally  small  in  comparison  with  the  magnitude 
and  importance  of  the  undertaking,  that  one  cannot  speak 
of  it  now  without  a  smile.  But  as  yet  the  jDroject,  was 
only  a  project,  and  the  projector  an  untried  man.  The 
faculty  and  the  council  warmly  recommended  the  scheme 
to  the  Government.     But  the  Government  could  not  see 


42  XJXSJtX  AV  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

its  way  to  sanctioning  it.  One  of  the  official  organs  was 
unable  to  discover  any  reason  wj-iy  the  Norwegian  people 
should  pay  so  large  a  sum  as  300/.  in  order  that  a  private 
individual  might  treat  himself  to  a  pleasure-trip  to  Green- 
land. And  undoubtedly  the  Government  here  repre- 
sented a  \er\-  large  section  of  the  people.  Two  widel)' 
different  sides  of  the  Norwegian  character  were  in  this 
case  at  odds.  The  love  of  adventure  is  represented  in 
Nansen,  the  cautiousness,  the  "  canniness,"  of  the  Norwe- 
gian peasant  is  represented  in  the  Government.  It  is  no 
mere  chance  that  this  300/.  should  have  come  from 
abroad.  For  except  in  scientific  circles,  and  among  the 
young  and  ardent,  the  general  ojjinion  certainly  was  that 
Nansen's  undertaking  was  only  worthy  of  a  madman  — 
though  no  one  actuall)'  went  so  far  as  to  have  him  locked 
up,  like  the  man  in  the  London  madhouse  whom  Nansen 
is  so  fond  of  citing.  A  comic  paper  in  Bergen  inserted 
the  following  advertisement :  — 

Notice.  —  In  the  month  of  June  next.  Curator  Nansen  will  give  a  snow-shoe 
display,  with  long  jumps,  on  the  inland  ice  of  Greenland.  Reserved  seats  in 
the  crevasses.     Return  ticket  unnecessary. 

And  in  private  conversation  the  affair  was  taken  much 
in  the  same  way,  when  it  was  not  regarded  from  a  more 
serious  point  of  view,  by  people  who  thought  it  sinful  to 
give  open  support  to  a  suicide. 

Nor  was  it  only  the  outside  public  that  held  these 
opinions.  Previous  explorers  of  Greenland,  who  might  be 
suppo.sed  to  know  the  local  conditions,  characterized  the 
plan  as  absolutely  visionary.  Nansen  has  himself  reprinted 
in  his  book  a  short  extract  from  a  lecture  delivered  in 
Copenhagen  by  one  of  the  younger  Danish  explorers  of 
Greenland.     lie  says:  "Among  the  few  of  us  who  know 


NANSEN'S   GREENLAND   EXPEJUTION  4;, 

sometliini;'  of  the  nature  of  Danish  Mast  (jreenland,  tliere 
is  no  doubt  that  unless  the  ship  reaches  the  coast  and 
waits  for  Iiim  till  he  is  forced  to  confess  himself  beaten,  it 
is  ten  to  one  that  either  Nansen  will  throw  away  his  own 
life,  and  perhaps  the  lives  of  others,  to  no  purpose ;  or 
else  he  will  he  })icked  uj)  by  the  Mskimos,  and  convoyed 
by  them  round  Cape  Farewell  to  the  Danish  stations  on 
the  west  coast.  But  no  one  has  any  right  needlessly  to 
involve  the  East  Greenlanders  in  a  long  journe)',  which 
must  be  in  many  respects  injurious  to  them." 

It  was,  however,  from  Denmark  that  the  requisite  finan- 
cial assistance  came.  Professor  Amund  Helland,  who  had 
himself  been  in  Greenland,  had  strongly  advocated  the 
plan  in  the  "  Dagblad  "  of  November  24,  1887.  "After 
the  experiences  of  others  on  the  inland  ice,"  he  says,  "  and 
after  what  I  myself  have  seen  of  it,  I  cannot  see  why 
young  and  courageous  snow-shoers,  under  an  intelligent 
and  cautious  leader,  should  not  have  every  prospect  of 
reaching  the  other  side,  if  only  the  equipment  be  care- 
fully adapted  to  the  peculiar  conditions.  .  .  .  All  things 
carefully  considered,  I  believe  there  is  every  likelihood 
that  competent  snow-shoers  should  be  able  to  manage 
this  journey  without  running  any  such  extreme  risks  as 
should  make  the  expedition  inadvisable.  Those  who 
have  travelled  some  distance  on  the  inland  ice  of  Green- 
land number,  at  present,  about  twenty  men,  and  not  a 
single  life  has  been  lost  in  these  attempts." 

As  a  result  of  this  article,  Professor  Helland  was  able 
to  announce  to  the  "Collegium  Academicum,"  on  Jan- 
uary 12,  1888,  that  Mr.  Augustin  Gamel,  of  Copenhagen, 
had  offered  to  provide  the  5,000  crowns. 

Nansen  accepted  the  generous  offer.     Afterwards,  when 


44  XA.VS£A^  IN  THE   FROZEX  WORLD 

all  was  happily  over,  people  criticised  this  action.  He 
ought  to  ha\c  waited  patiently  till  the  money  turned  up 
somewhere  in  Norway.  This  wisdom  after  the  event  is 
foolish  enough.  It  ignores  the  actual  facts  of  the  situ- 
ation. Nansen  had  made  up  his  mind  to  pay  for  the 
whole  enterprise  out  of  his  own  pocket ;  no  one  in  Norway 
showed  the  slightest  eairerness  to  prevent  his  doinir  so. 
And,  with  all  his  self-reliance,  he  could  not,  at  that  time, 
regard  the  realization  of  his  idea  as  a  privilege  that  must 
be  reserved  solely  and  exclusively  for  Norway,  The  situ- 
ation was  quite  different  ^\■hcn,  five  years  later,  with  the 
eyes  of  all  the  world  upon  him,  he  set  out  for  the  North 
Pole.  Then,  indeed,  it  was  of  the  utmost  importance  that 
the  money  as  well  as  the  flag  should  be  Norwegian.  The 
criticism  seems  all  the  emptier  when  we  remember  that 
the  Greenland  Expedition  did  not  cost  5,000  crowns,  but 
more  than  three  times  that  amount,  and  that  Nansen  him- 
self would  have  met  this  deficit  out  of  his  small  private 
means,  had  not  the  Students'  Society,  after  the  successful 
return  of  the  expedition,  set  on  foot  a  subscription  which 
brought  in  10,000  crowns. 

It  was,  as  Nansen  had  said  to  Dr.  Grieg,  a  hard  spring. 
The  first  six  months  of  1888  passed  in  one  incessant 
rush.  At  the  beginning  of  December,  1887,  he  is  back  in 
Bergen.  At  the  end  of  January,  he  goes  on  snow-shoes 
from  Kidfjord  in  Hardanger,  by  way  of  Numedal,  to 
Kongsberg,  and  thence  to  Christiania.  In  March  he  is  in 
Hergen  again,  lecturing  on  nature  and  life  in  Greenland. 
One  day  —  or  rather  night  —  we  find  him  camping  on 
the  toj)  of  Hlaamanden,  near  Bergen,  to  test  his  sleej^ing- 
bag,  and  a  week  later  he  is  on  tlie  rostrum  in  Chris- 
tiania giving  his  first  trial  lecture  for  his  doctors  degree, 


NANSEN'S    GREKXf.AND    EXPEDITION  45 

on  tlic  structure  of  the  sexual  or^'ans  in  the  myxiiie. 
On  April  2.S  he  defends  his  doctoral  thesis:  "  The  Nerve 
Elements:  their  structure  and  connection  in  the  central 
nervous  system  "  —  and  on  May  2  he  sets  off  for  Coj^en- 
hagen,  on  his  way  to  Greenland.  "  I  would  rather  take 
a  bad  degree  than  have  a  bad  outfit,"  he  used  to  say  to 
Dr.  Grieg  in  those  days.  lie  succeeded  in  getting  both 
good,  but  only  by  straining  every  nerve.  On  the  one 
hand,  he  had  his  scientific  reputation  to  look  to;  on  the 
other,  his  own  life  and  the  lives  of  five  brave  men  ;  for  he 
was  fully  convinced  that,  of  all  the  dangers  which  were 
pointed  out  to  him,  the  most  serious  by  far  was  the  danger 
of  a  defective  outfit.  On  the  outfit,  more  than  on  any- 
thing else,  depended  victory  or  defeat,  life  or  death. 

It  was  in  the  January  number  of  the  periodical  "  Natu- 
ren  "  (1888)  that  he  for  the  first  time  made  a  public  state- 
ment of  his  plan.  He  explains  that,  by  striking  inland 
from  the  east  coast,  he  will  need  to  cross  Greenland  only 
once.  It  is  true  that  by  this  course  retreat  is  cut  off. 
"  The  inhospitable  coast,  inhabited  only  by  scattered 
tribes  of  heathen  Eskimos,  is  bv  no  means  an  enviable 
winter  residence  to  fall  back  upon  in  the  event  of  our 
encountering  unforeseen  obstacles  in  the  interior;  but  the 
less  tempting  the  line  of  retreat,  the  stronger  will  be  the 
incentive  to  push  on  with  all  our  might."  This  is  one  of 
the  essential  points  of  the  ]:)lan  —  all  bridges  are  to  be 
broken.  Here  we  see  the  irresistible  self-confidence  of 
genius  —  its  triumphant  faith  in  its  power  to  reach  the 
goal.  The  thing  that  presents  itself  to  ordinarv  ])rudence 
as  the  first  necessity,  namely,  a  safe  and  easy  line  of  re- 
treat, genius  regards  rather  as  a  hindrance  and  a  thing  to 
be  avoided. 


46  A\-iXS£^^  IX  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

'•  Setzet  Ilir  nicht  das  Leheii  ein, 
Nic  wire!  cucli  das  Lebcn  gewounen  sein." 

We  will  not  here  dwell  upon  the  other  features  of  the 
plan,  because  in  all  essentials  it  was  carried  out  as  pro- 
jected ;  and  the  modifications  which  proved  necessary  are 
sufficiently  well  known  through  Nansen's  own  account  of 
the  expedition.  It  will  be  remembered  how  they  were 
caught  in  the  drift  ice,  carried  down  alniost  to  the 
southern  point  of  Greenland,  and  then  had  to  fight  their 
way  laboriously  north  again.  It  will  be  remembered,  too, 
that  they  did  not  strike  inland,  as  they  intended,  north  of 
Cape  Dan,  but  a  good  way  farther  south,  and  that  they 
reached  the  west  coast,  not,  as  contemplated,  on  Disco 
Bay  near  Christianshaab,  but  at  the  Ameralikfjord  near 
Godthaab.  These  alterations  are  important  enough  in 
themselves,  but  inessential  in  relation  to  the  main  object. 
The  plan  itself  having  been  set  forth,  the  article  proceeds 
to  enumerate  the  scientific  problems  which  may  be  solved 
or  brought  nearer  to  a  solution  by  a  journey  across  the 
inland  ice.  Nansen  concludes  by  quoting  Nordenskjold's 
words  in  the  preface  to  his  book,  "  The  Second  Dickson 
Expedition  to  Greenland:"  "The  investigation  of  the  un- 
known interior  of  Greenland  is  fraught  with  such  mo- 
mentous issues  for  science  that  at  present  one  can  hardly 
suggest  a  worthier  task  for  the  enterprise  of  the  Arctic 
explorer." 

Nansen  was  himself  fully  conscious  of  the  great  scien- 
tific import  of  the  journey  he  was  about  to  take. 

I- or  the  rest,  this  expedition  required  in  its  leader  a 
quite  unusual  comljinalion  of  c|ualities  :  an  adventurous 
imagination  to  conceive  it,  a  Viking-like  hardihood  to 
carry  it  through,  strenuous  physical   training   throughout 


NANSEN'S    GREENLAND   EXJ'EDITION  47 

childhood  and  youth  to  cnal3lc  him  to  face  its  fatigues, 
and  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  science  in  order  to  make 
the  most  of  the  oj^portunities  it  afforded.  And  even  more 
was  required.  This  young  man,  whose  fame  as  yet  rested 
entirely  uix)n  an  unfulfilled  idea,  had  to  take  command  of 
a  little  group  of  brave  men  who  all  risked  their  lives  ex- 
actly as  he  did,  and  among  whom  were  some  who  them- 
selves had  held  command.  This  was  not  a  company  of 
soldiers  to  be  officered  as  a  matter  of  course ;  it  required  a 
special  tact,  a  peculiar  instinct,  to  bear  one's  self  tis  primus 
in  lev  pares.  With  all  his  ])roud  self-confidence,  Nansen 
had  just  this  instinct.  It  springs  in  part,  no  doubt,  from 
a  strain  of  gentleness  in  his  character,  but  may  on  the 
whole  be  regarded  as  simply  another  manifestation  of  his 
singular  knack  of  doing  the  right  thing  at  precisely  the 
right  moment.  He  had  been  too  earlv  intent  on  ends  of 
his  own  to  develop  what  one  would  call  a  specially  social 
disposition.  "  He  is  something  of  a  soloist,''  one  of  his 
friends  writes  to  us,  "  steadfast  towards  those  to  whom  he 
really  attaches  himself;  but  they  are  not  many."  He  is 
too  absorbed  in  his  work.  He  is  not  expansive,  in  the 
sense  of  feeling  any  inborn  craving  to  make  friends.  But 
now,  in  the  moment  of  need,  the  unaffected  geniality  of 
his  temperament  comes  out  quite  naturally  in  his  relation 
to  those  who  have  had  the  courage  and  the  insight  to 
place  their  trust  in  him.  Given  another  personality  than 
his,  the  whole  undertaking  would  not  improbably  have 
gone  to  wreck,  with  the  most  disastrous  consequences. 
If  it  had  been  simply  a  question  of  mechanical  discipline, 
the  spirit  of  revolt  might  easily  have  arisen  in  the  course 
of  these  indescribable  hardships,  and  ruined  everything. 
As  it  was,  all  were  as^rccd  that,  though   discussion  should 


48  N.'IXSJ':^  IN  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

of  course  be  free,  one  must  haxe  the  decisive  voice.  But 
that  one  was  of  no  higher  rank  than  the  otliers  when 
there  was  work  to  be  done  or  hunger  to  be  endured  ;  and 
it  was  this  complete  equaHty  that  formed  the  strongest 
bond  of  union.  Stories  have  been  invented  as  to  the  rela- 
tions between  the  six  Greenland  explorers,  some  of  them 
of  a  dark  and  almost  tragic  tenor.  We  are  able  to  state 
t)n  the  best  authority  that  all  these  legends,  from  first  to 
last,  are  the  product  of  popular  imagination,  which,  after 
the  tremendous  enthusiasm  over  Nansen's  return,  neces- 
sarily underwent  a  reaction. 

The  men  who  accompanied  Nansen  were  Ca])tain  Otto 
Neumann  Sverdruj),  born  October  31,  1855,  in  Bindalen  ; 
Lieutenant  Oluf  Christian  Dietrichson,  born  May  31, 
1856,  in  Skogn,  near  Levanger ;  Christian  Christiansen 
Trana,  born  February  16,  1865,  at  the  farm  of  Trana,  near 
Stenkjasr ;  besides  the  two  Lapps,  Samuel  Johannesen 
Balto,  aged  27,  and  Ola  Nilsen  Ravna,  aged  45.  All 
these  names  have  become  historical.  To  the  two  first- 
mentioned  in  particular  a  great  share  in  the  credit  of  the 
expedition  is  due.  The  whole  civilized  world  is  indebted 
to  them,  and  Nansen  most  of  all.  "  People  are  very 
ready,"  he  says  in  the  preface  to  "  The  First  Crossing  of 
Greenland,"  "  to  heap  the  whole  blame  of  an  unsuccessful 
expedition,  but  also  the  whole  honor  of  a  successful  one, 
ui)f)n  the  shoulders  of  the  leader.  This  is  ])articularly 
unfair  in  the  case  of  such  an  expedition  as  the  present, 
where  the  result  depends  on  absolutely  no  one  falling 
short,  on  every  one  filling  his  place  entirely  and  at  every 
point." 

For  the  lives  of  all  these  men  Nansen  had  now^  assumed 
the  responsibility,  so  far  as  the  planiiing  and  management 


NANSEN'S    GREENLAND   EXPEDITION  49 

of  the  journey  \n^is  concerned  ;  and  his  responsilDilit}' 
beean  with  tlie  outfit.  WMth  re'>ard  to  tliis  essential  mat- 
ter,  all  the  c|ualities  we  ha\'e  been  dwelling  upon  would 
have  been  of  no  avail  had  he  not  possessed  one  other  of 
the  first  importance.  He  was  accustomed  to  see  things 
for  himself.  He  was  an  observer  not  only  in  the  domain 
of  science,  but  also  in  that  of  practical  life.  As  a  boy,  he 
pulled  the  sewing-machine  to  pieces  to  see  how  it  was 
made,  and  as  a  young  man  he  had  gone  deeply  into  the 
question  of  the  nutritive  value  of  the  various  food-stuffs. 
He  had  an  eminently  ])ractical  and  mechanical  talent ; 
and  he  had  been  born  with  the  instinct  of  the  Youngest 
Son  in  the  fairy  tale,  for  picking  up  a  magpies  wing 
whenever  he  came  across  it,  since  you  never  could  tell 
w^hen  it  might  come  in  useful.  No  doubt  he  had  learned 
much  in  his  brief  consultations  with  Nordenskjold,  whose 
numerous  expeditions  had  always  been  conspicuous  for 
their  careful  and  excellent  equii)ment.  But  the  expedition 
now  in  hand  must  be  set  about  on  an  entirely  original 
])lan,  since  they  were  to  have  neither  reindeer  nor  dogs, 
but  were  themselves  to  be  their  own  beasts  of  burden  and 
drag  every  crumb  of  food  and  every  instrument.  Now 
was  the  time  to  act  up  to  the  Nansen  motto,  "  To  rec|uire 
little."  The  thing  was  to  ascertain  wl^at  food-stuffs  com- 
bine a  maximum  of  nourishment  willi  a  minimum  of 
weight ;  and  equally  important  was  the  consideration  of 
the  means  of  transport  to  be  employed.  The  lightness 
of  everything  was  the  cardinal  point  which  distinguished 
the  Nansen  expedition  from  all  others.  Lightness  became 
a  study,  an  art.  Nansen  brooded  on  the  prol:)lem  by  day, 
and  dreamed  of  it  at  night.  Like  Macbeth,  he  was 
haunted  with  visions  of  insubstantial  toUck)iivs  (sheath 
knives). 
4 


50  ^'.^^'S£^'  av  7///^  froakn  world 

EvcrvthinL;-  was  niinutcl}'  criticised,  froni  tlic  raw  mate- 
rial uj)  to  the  finished  j^roduct.  Many  of  the  most  imi)or- 
tant  articles  Nansen  designed  for  himself,  h'rom  his 
detailed  description  of  the  outfit  we  reproduce  in  a  few 
words  the  essential  points :  Five  specially  constructed 
hand  -  sledges  of  ash,  with  broad  steel  -  plated  runners. 
These  sledges  were  about  9  ft.  6  in.  long  by  i  ft.  8  in. 
broad,  yet  weighed,  with  the  steel  runners,  onl)-  a  little 
t)ver  2.S  lbs.  They  were  so  excellently  made  that  in  spite 
of  the  tremendous  wear  and  tear  they  were  subjected  to 
not  one  of  them  broke.  Next  came  Norwegian  snow- 
shoes  [ski)  of  the  most  careful  make,  as  well  as  Canadian 
snow-shoes  and  Norwegian  wickerwork  triiger.  The  last 
were  used  particularly  in  ascending  the  outer  slope  of 
the  inland  ice,  and  on  wet  snow  where  ski  were  useless. 
The  tent  was  furnished  by  Lieutenant  Ryder,  of  Copen- 
hagen. It  was  just  large  enough  to  accommodate  the 
two  sleeping-bags  side  by  side  upon  the  floor.  The  dress 
of  the  party  consisted  of  a  thin  woollen  vest  and  woollen 
drawers;  over  the  vest  a  thick  Iceland  jersey;  and  for 
outer  garments,  jacket,  knickerbockers  and  thick  snow'- 
socks  on  the  legs,  all  made  of  Norwegian  homespun.  For 
windy  and  snowy  weather  they  had  an  outer  dress  of  thin 
sail-cloth.  Their  foot-gear  consisted  of  boots  with  pitched 
seams  and  Laj^land  lauparsko,  a  sort  of  moccasin.  On 
their  heads  they  wore  woollen  caps  and  hoods  of  homc- 
sjjun,  woollen  gloves  on  their  hands,  and  in  extreme  cold 
an  extra  pair  of  dogskin  gloves.  For  their  eyes  they  had 
snow-spectacles,  some  of  smoke-colored  glass  with  baskets 
of  steel-wire  network,  some  of  black  wood  with  horizontal 
slits. 

The   provisions  consisted   mainly  of  pemmican,  meat- 


NANSEN'S   G/UiEXI.AXD    F.Xri'.DrJ'/OX  51 

powder  chocolate,  calf-li\'cr  pate,  a  Swedish  l)iscuit  known 
as  kuakkcbrod,  meat  biscuits,  butter,  dried  liahbut,  a  Httle 
cheese,  pea-soup  j^owder,  chocolate,  and  condensed  milk. 
They  took  two  double-barrelled  guns  for  rej)lenishing 
their  larder.  The  cooking  apjDaratus  was  a  s])irit-burning 
contrivance  devised  by  Nansen  and  a  chemist  named 
Schmelck,  uj^on  which  they  expended  much  labor.  No 
spirits  for  consumption  ;  some  tea,  a  little  coffee,  a  little 
tobacco.  On  the  other  hand,  an  abundance  of  scientific 
instruments.  And,  to  complete  the  list,  tarpaulins,  which 
on  the  inland  ice  were  sometimes  used  as  sails ;  bamboo 
poles;  and  a  (|uantity  of  tools  and  small  necessaries  of 
various  kinds  from  matches  and  a  few  candles  down  to 
darning-needles  —  everything  of  course  lis  light  as  pos- 
sible. 

In  only  one  single  respect  did  this  e([uipment  prove 
inadequate.  The  pemmican,  which  should  have  been  the 
staple  of  their  diet,  had  in  the  course  of  manufacture 
been  deprived  of  all  fat,  and  Nansen  did  not  discover  the 
fact  until  the  last  moment.  The  result  was  that  thev  suf- 
fered after  a  while  from  "fat-hunger,  of  which  no  one  who 
has  not  experienced  it  can  form  any  idea."  lu'en  during 
the  last  days,  w  hen  they  had  as  much  dried  meat  as  they 
wanted,  the\'  did  not  feel  satisfied. 

1  low  easy  it  would  have  been  in  this  terra  incognita 
for  the  outfit  to  ha\-e  fallen  slioit  in  other  respects!-  b'or 
one  thing,  no  one  in  the  least  foresaw  that  the  exjjedition 
would,  at  this  time  of  the  year,  be  exposed  to  such  severe 
cold  as  was  found  to  prevail  on  the  inland  ice.  It  was  a 
new  and  unknown  meteorological  phenomenon  which  the 
expedition  enc^ounfered.  If  Nansen  had  chosen  woollen 
sleeping-bags  instead  of   those   of   reindeer-skin,  which  he 


sa 


Ar.4jys£-v  /.y  the  frozen  world 


at  last  determined  on,  he  and  his  comrades,  as  he  liimself 
admits,  would  scarcely  have  reached  the  west  coast  alive. 

Yes,  a  great  deal  might  have  happened  ;  but  luck  was 
on  Nansen's  side.  His  good  genius  was  very  active  in  all 
that  concerned  this,  his  first  great  undertaking.  But  in 
the  last  analysis,  no  doubt,  the  man  who  has  "  the  luck 
on  his  side  "  is  he  who  shows  capacity,  foresight,  genius, 
and  does  not  pit  himself  against  forces  which  are  in  the 
nature  of  things  unconquerable. 

We  cannot  conclude  these  lines  on  the  preparations  for 
the  Greenland  expedition  without  mentioning  that  Nan- 
sen  was  in  constant  communication  with  one  of  the  most 
notable  of  the  explorers  of  Greenland,  Dr.  H.  Rink.  One 
service  that  Rink  certainly  rendered  him  was  to  throw 
into  strong  relief  the  perils  of  the  expedition,  although 
there  were  moments  when  the  enfeebled  and  nervously 
conscientious  old  man  reproached  himself  with  not  having 
dwelt  on  them  sufficiently.  "  Rink  at  first  regarded  the 
plan,"  his  wife  writes  to  us,  "  as  a  mere  romantic  fancy. 
The  more  he  pondered  over  it,  and  the  more  he  became 
attached  to  the  man  who  was  to  carr}-  it  out,  the  more 
perilous  did  it  become  in  his  eyes,  until  at  last  he  blamed 
himself  severely  for  not  having,  in  the  course  of  all  their 
discussions,  painted  in  strong  enough  colors  the  dangers 
to  which  he  believed  the  expedition  would  be  exposed. 
So,  ex^Dressly  on  this  account,  we  invited  Nansen  to  pay 
us  another  visit.  Tliat  evening  we  spent  for  the  most 
part  in  looking  at  ])ictures  of  Greenland,  in  a  quieter  and 
more  serious  frame  of  mind,  on  the  whole,  than  on  pre- 
vious occasions,  when  there  had  been  a  vast  amount  of 
jesting  over  the  chances  (cannibalism  not  excepted)  that 
might  befall  the  expedition  on  the  ice  fields.     On  these 


NANSEN'S    GREENLAND   EXJ'J'.DITJON  53 

occasions  everybody  used  to  lau<;h  very  licarlily,  except 
Rink.  And  I  remember  I  had  to  bear  all  the  Ijlame  of 
this  unseemly  conduct  after  the  j^arty  broke  u])." 

In  Rink's  liouse,  too,  they  used  to  take  lessons  in 
Eskimo,  when  time  j^ermitted.  Sverdruj)  tried  it  fust ; 
but  he  could  not  get  his  tongue  round  the  Greenland 
idiom.  1  )ietrichson  was  good  at  it.  "  Curiously  enough," 
writes  Mrs.  Rink,  "  I  had  pitched  upon  these  two  as  the 
predestined  spokesmen  of  the  expedition,  and  did  not 
offer  to  give  Nansen  any  lessons.  Whereupon  he  said, 
as  though  a  little  hurt:  'Mayn't  I  try  too  .'^ '  —  and  he 
went  at  it  with  the  earnestness  and  perseverance  that  are 
such  charming  traits  in  his  character.  How  remarkably 
he  succeeded  in  picking  up  the  language,  tlie  Eskimos 
themselves  bear  witness." 

The  last  evening  Nansen  was  at  Rink's  house,  Mrs. 
Rink  accompanied  him  to  the  door.  "  I  said,"  she  writes, 
"  what  had  often  occurred  to  me,  '  You  must  go  to  the 
North  Pole,  too,  some  day.'  He  answered  emphatically, 
as  though  he  had  long  ago  made  uj)  his  mind  on  the 
])oint,  '  I  mean  to.' " 


CHKISTIANSEN 


•.A.NSE\  DIETRICHSON  SVF.RDRUP 

THE   MEMIiERS    OF   THE   CREENLAND    EXPEDITION 


CHAPTER    IV 


ACROSS    GREENLAND 

(X\  May  2,  1 888,  Nansen  started  from  Christiania,  by 
way  of  Copenhagen  and  London,  for  Leith,  where  he 
was  to  meet  tlie  rest  of  the  party,  wlio  had  gone,  with 
the  whole  outfit,  from  Christiansand  direct  to  Scotland. 

l^-om  Scotland  they  proceeded  to  Iceland  l^y  the 
Danish  steamer  Thyra.  Not  until  June  4  did  they  join 
ihf  scaler  Jason  (Captain  M.  Jacobsen),  which  was  to 
carry  them  over  to  the  east  coast  of  Greenland  —  under 
the  express  stipulation,  however,  that  the  vessel  should 
not  be  hindered  in  its  sealing  operations  for  the  sake  of 
landing  the  party. 


ACROSS  GREENLAND  55 

On  Monday,  June  11,  they  liad  tlicir  first  ^^limjisc  of 
tlic  east  coast  of  Greenland,  sighting  the  high  rugged 
peaks  north  of  Cape  Dan  at  about  the  latitude  where,  in 
1.S.S3,  N(jrdenskjold  had  succeeded  in  getting  through 
the  drift  ice  with  the  Sophia.  The  ice  belt  between  the 
vessel  and  the  coast  pro\'ed,  however,  to  be  still  so  wide 
(from  iiine  to  ten  miles  of  rough  ice)  as  to  render  any 
attempt  to  reach  the  land  unadvisable  for  the  present. 
They  had  to  wait  about  a  month  for  a  favorable  op])ortu- 
nity  of  leaving  the  Jason,  which  was  bound  to  remain  in 
the  region  where  the  seal-hunting  was  likely  to  be  good. 
Meanwhile,  Nansen  acted  as  "doctor"  to  the  whole  fleet 
of  sealers,  and  had  to  possess  his  soul  in  patience  until 
the  sealing  season  was  practically  over. 

Finally,  on  the  morning  of  July  17,  the  yason  was  so 
near  land  (about  2.I  miles  from  the  coast  near  Sermi- 
likfjord,  at  65.]°  N.  lat.)  that  Nansen  determined  to  force 
a  passage  through  the  comparatively  narrow  belt  of  drift 
ice. 

The  boat  belonging  to  the  expedition,  and  a  smaller 
one  which  the  cajDtain  of  the  Jason  had  placed  at  their 
disposal,  were  therefore  lowered,  the  baggage  packed  and 
stowed  in  the  boats,  and  every  preparation  ])romi)tly 
made.  At  7  i'.  m.  all  was  ready  ft)r  a  start.  Nansen  went 
up  into  the  crow's-nest  for  a  last  sur\ey  of  the  course, 
and  saw  jDlainly,  with  the  aid  of  the  glass,  a  belt  of  ()])en 
water  between  the  drift  ice  and  the  shore. 

"We  are  taking  to  our  boats  with  the  firmest  hojK'  of 
a  successful  issue  to  our  enterprise,"  Nansen  wrote  in  a 
letter  to  the  "  Ahirgenblad  "  hastil\-  scribbled  at  the  la>t 
moment. 

It  was  soon  ajijiarent    that  their  hopefulness  was.  at  the 


56  A'.LVS^iV  AV  THE   FROZEN  WORLD 

\cry  outset,  to  be  put  to  a  severe  test.  After  they  had 
tried  the  whole  night  long',  in  storm  and  rain,  to  get 
through  the  drift  ice  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Sermihk- 
fjord,  the  ice  became  so  packed  by  the  current  tliat,  in 
the  early  morning,  they  had  to  drag  their  boats  up  on  the 
floes.  One  of  the  boats  was  injured  b)-  the  pressure  of 
the  ice,  so  that  it  had  to  be  repaired  in  liot  haste;  and 
during  the  short  time  lost  in  doing  tliis  they  were  caught 
in  a  strong  southerly  current,  and  swept  seaward  again 
at  a  great  speed.  At  six  o'clock  on  the  19th  they  found 
that  they  were  alread}-  twice  as  far  from  land  as  when 
they  had  left  the  ship. 

There  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  drift  southward  with 
the  ice  until  an  opportunit\-  should  offer  of  getting  in 
under  the  land  again. 

For  ten  days  the  expedition  drifted  along  the  east  coast 
of  Greenland  as  far  down  as  the  island  of  Kudtlek,  61° 
40'  N.  lat.,  at  an  average  rate  of  nearly  six  knots  in  the 
twenty-four  hours.  Quite  apart  from  the  very  serious 
dangers  to  wliich  Nansen  and  his  comrades  were  exposed 
during  this  drift  voyage,  the  expedition  was  carried  a  long 
way  from  its  projected  starting-point,  and  had  lost  a  great 
deal  of  very  precious  time.  It  was  not  till  July  29  that 
they  succeeded  in  setting  foot  on  dry  land,  and  thus  the 
best  part  of  the  summer  was  already  gone. 

Nansen  has  gi\-en  a  vivid  description  of  this  interesting 
drift  voyage,  and  of  life  on  the  ice  floe,  which,  tossed  about 
by  the  waves  and  breakers,  and  repeatedly  cracked  and 
broken,  was  yet  the  abiding-place  of  the  expedition  during 
all  these  days.'  With  the  mountains  of  the  coast  so  near 
that  in  bright  weather  they  could  clearly  distinguish   their 

^  For  description,  see  next  chapter. 


53  AUXSE.V  y.V  THR   FROZEN  WORLD 

outlines,  they  were  steadily  burne  southward,  farther  and 
farther  from  their  <;oal. 

The  ni«j;ht  of  Jul\-  20  might  easily  have  been  their  last. 
The  ice  Hoe  on  which  they  were  drifting  had  come  right 
out  to  the  verge  of  the  open  sea,  which  was  running  very 
high,  so  that  the  surf  kept  on  washing  over  the  fioe  almost 
up  to  the  tent.  Had  the  Hoe  been  crushed,  they  might 
very  likely  have  ftiund  it  impossible  to  launch  the  boats  in 
such  a  furious  sea,  and  among  the  clashing  masses  of  ice. 
In  any  case  they  could  not  ha\e  saved  more  than  one  of 
the  boats,  and  the  most  indispensable  part  of  the  provi- 
sions and  equipment.  One  scarcely  knows  which  to 
admire  the  most.  —  Sverdrup,  wlio  kept  the  night  watch, 
pacing  calm  and  composed,  with  his  quid  in  his  cheek,  up 
and  down  the  fioe,  between  the  tent  and  the  boats,  many 
times  on  the  point  of  loosening  the  liooks  of  the  tent-flap 
to  make  them  all  turn  out,  but  always  staying  his  hand  ; 
or  Nansen  and  Dietrichson,  who  lay  quietl)^  asleep  in  the 
tent,  while  the  surf  roared  and  rattled  the  ice-brash  o\'er 
the  rocking  floe,  and  swei)t  ever  nearer  and  nearer  until  it 
lapped  the  very  edge  of  the  tent.  But  just  as  the  outlook 
was  blackest,  the  floe  suddenly  changed  its  course,  headed 
shoreward  once  more  "  as  if  guided  by  an  unseen  hand," 
and  was  soon  in  safer  waters. 

Nansen  and  his  companions  had  a  hard  time  of  it 
during  these  jierilous,  exciting  days  on  the  ice  floe.  They 
did  not  so  much  mind  their  toil  iii  the  rain  and  surf,  fruit- 
lessly striving  to  force  a  jiassage  through  openings  in  the 
ice  pack ;  they  did  not  so  much  mind  their  scanty  diet  of 
raw  horse-flesh,  etc.  (the  cooking  apparatus  was  only  once 
lighted  during  their  days  of  drifting);  they  did  not  so 
much   mind  the  dangers  that  threatened   them  on  every 


ACA'O.SS    GREEXLAND 


59 


hand;  but  tlicy  dreaded  the  j)ruspect  of  ha\in«;-  to  L;i\e  up 
for  tliat  season  the  joui-ney  across  tlie  inland  ice.  'I'liese 
wasted  da)s  were  tr)'inL!;  days  indeed. 

When  the  news  of  tlie  success  of  the  expechlion 
reached  Stockhohn,  Nordenskjold  pointed  out,  as  tlie 
strongest  proof  of  the  achniraljle  energy  dis]:>layed  (hning 
the  entire  journew  that  when  at  last  the\-  liad  got  through 
the  belt  of  drift  ice  they  instantly  set  to  woi'k  to  row- 
northward  again,  in  order  to  reach  tlie  ])ro]jer  ]}oint  for 
attacking  the  ice  sheet.  They  had,  in  a  waw  made  an 
unfortunate  and  discouraging  start.  It  was  alread)  well 
on  in  the  suninier,  the  sup])]y  of  pro\'isions  was  not  over- 
abundant, and  —  cixilization  was,  nioreoxer,  within  temi)t- 
ingly  easy  reach.  The)'  were  now  only  180  miles  fi'om 
the  nearest  colony,  P'rederiksdal,  while  the  Sermilikfjord, 
the  starting-jDoint  originally  fixed  uj)on,  was  nearl\-  twice 
as  distant.  The  mere  fact  of  their  resisting  the  tempta- 
tion to  put  off  till  the  following  year  may  be  called  truly 
heroic;  not  many  would  have  shown  such  resolution. 
But  for  them  the  temptation  was  no  tem|)tation  at  all.  It 
did  not  enter  their  thoughts  that  there  was  anything  to 
be  done  except  to  head  the  l3oats  northward  as  cpn'ckly 
as  possible.  And  it  was  not  with  anxious  fear,  but  with 
radiant  joy,  that  they  now  saw  a  clear  water-wa)-  before 
them. 

The  first  jDroblem,  th.at  of  getting  through  the  drift  ice 
w  ith  whole  skins,  was  thus  .solved  —  with  <'reat  labor,  it  is 
true,  and  less  of  precious  time,  l)ut  ne\ertheless  solved. 
It  had  been  prophesied  that  e\en  this  would  proxe  im- 
l^racticablc  ;  for  a  long  series  of  wain  attemj)ts  had  shown 
that  it  was  next  thing  to  impossible  to  ixMietrate  the  ice 
belt  south  of  the  sixt}-si\th  degree  of  latitude.     Not  until 


6o  AUjys£\v  y.v  niE  frozkx  world 

18S3    had    Nordenskjold,   with    the   steamer   Sophia,   sue 
ceeded  in  reaehini;-  the  eoast  near  Cape  Dan  (Kini;-  Oscar's 
Haven).      So  nuich  the  more  daring  was  it  on   Nansen's 
j3art  to  make  the  attempt. 

But  now  the  thing  was  to  make  all  speed  northward. 
The  best  of  the  summer  was  gone.  If  they  were  to  have 
any  chance  of  reaching  the  west  coast  that  year,  they 
must  go  at  it  in  earnest.  And  they  did  go  at  it  in 
earnest. 

On  the  day  of  their  landing  at  Kekertarsuak  they  had 
a  lordly  repast  of  hot  chocolate  and  extra  rations  of  oat 
cake,  Swiss  cheese,  mysost  (goat's  milk  cheese),  and  cran- 
berry jam,  to  celebrate  their  landing;  but  after  that  their 
meals  consisted  of  cold  water,  biscuits,  and  dried  beef  — 
they  could  not  waste  time  in  cooking  until  they  had  in 
some  measure  made  up  what  they  had  lost  in  the  ice 
drift.  It  was  a  toilsome  journey  by  boat  northward  along 
the  coast.  For  long  distances  they  had  to  exert  all  their 
strength  to  force  the  ice  f^oes  apart  in  order  to  get  the 
boats  through  the  narrow  channels  between  them ;  and 
sometimes  they  had  to  drag  the  boats  over  the  ice,  skirt- 
ing the  low  barren  coast,  with  glaciers  and  snow-fields 
coming  right  down  to  the  margin  of  the  sea.  They  got 
safely  past  the  dreaded  glacier  Puisortok  (near  it,  at  Cape 
Bille,  they  came  ujion  an  encampment  of  heathen  Eski- 
mos, of  which  Nansen  has  gi\en  a  highly  interesting 
description),'  and  they  forced  their  way  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  through  a  closely  packed  belt  of  drift  ice  south 
of  Ingerkajarfik.  At  Mogens  Heinesens  Fjord  the  appear- 
ance of  the  coast  altered,  k'rom  this  point  northward 
there  is  a  long  stretch  of  bare  coast  land,  with  a  view  of 

^  Sec  chapter  vi. 


ACROSS    GREENLAND  Cn 

hl'j^h  mountain  ranges,  "summit  on  summit,  and  rank  be- 
hind rank." 

By  dint  of  constant  battling  with  the  drift  ice  and  the 
current,  the  exjDedition  reached  Nunarsuak  (62"  43'  N. 
hat.)  on  August  3.  From  this  point  they  tried  to  sail,  but 
tlie  wind  soon  rose  to  a  tempest  which  was  near  proving 
fatal,  for  tlie  boats  were  on  the  i)oint  of  being  crushed 
between  the  ice  floes,  got  their  oars  and  thole-j)ins 
smashed,  and  were  separated  into  the  bargain.  It  was  a 
hard  pinch,  but  by  putting  forth  all  their  strength  they 
got  through  it  at  last,  and  the  tent  was  pitched  on  a 
patch  of  soft  greensward  on  Griffenfeldt's  Island,  for  the 
highly  needful  repose  after  an  exhausting  day.  A  feast 
of  sjDlendid  hot  caraway  soup,  "  never  to  be  forgotten," 
was  the  reward  for  their  toils. 

On  August  5  the  boats  narrowly  escajoed  being 
crushed  by  the  falling  of  a  fragment  of  an  iceberg,  and 
"after  almost  incredible  labor"  they  reached  in  the  even- 
ing an  islet  at  the  mouth  of  the  Inugsuarmiutfjord,  where 
they  intended  to  rest  for  the  night.  I^ut  from  liere  thev 
perceived  that  the  water  was  open  ahead,  the  fjord  lying 
smooth  as  a  mirror;  so  their  rest  had  to  be  adjourned. 
Forward  again  !     They  certainly  did  "go  at  it  in  earnest." 

At  Singiartuarfik,  on  August  6,  they  again  fell  in  with 
Eskimos.  Then  noi^thward  again,  now  in  open  water, 
now  fighting  with  drift  ice,  always  on  cold  dr\-  diet  which 
was  served  out,  moreover,  in  very  scanty  rations.  They 
were  never  really  satisfied,  not  even  directly  after  eating; 
but  Nansen  said  "  they  had  had  enough,  so  enough  it  had 
to  be,"  as  Christiansen  put  it.  To  the  La|')])s,  who  natu- 
rall\-  had  no  \-erv  clear  notion  beforehand  of  what  they 
had    embarked    upon,   this    perj^etual    fighting  with    drift 


62  X.-J.VSAW    AV  THE   FROZEN  WORLD 

ice,  and  fasting  on  top  of  it,  began  to  seem  rather  de- 
pressing. 

The  coast  now  became  less  precipitous  again,  and  the 
mountain  contours  rounder,  and  the  explorers  began  to 
think  of  landing  and  beginning  their  journey  proper. 
On  August  8  they  reached  Bernstorff's  Fjord  (Kangerd- 
lugsuak)  at  about  63^''  N.  lat.  The  fjord  was  brimful  of 
glacier  ice,  niany  of  the  huge  icebergs  rising  out  of  the 
water  to  a  height  of  over  two  hundred  feet  (six  or  seven 
times  as  much  being  under  water),  and  running  to  a  mile 
or  so  in  breadth,  sometimes  flat-topped,  sometimes  jutting 
forth  into  the  most  fantastic  peaks,  ])innacles,  and  crests. 
These  colossal  masses  were  so  innumerable  that  they 
threatened  to  bar  all  advance.  From  the  top  of  one  of 
them  the  eye  ranged  over  an  "  Alpine  world  of  floating 
ice." 

At  last  chinks  were  discovered  even  in  this  barrier  — 
open  channels  "with  a  narrow  strip  of  sky  visible  between 
high  walls  of  ice."  And  "although  huge  icebergs  more 
than  once  collapsed,  or  capsized  witli  a  miglity  crash,  and 
set  uj)  a  \iolent  sea-way,"  here,  too,  they  at  last  got  out  of 
their  difficulties  for  the  moment.  That  night  they  slept 
in  the  sleeping-bags  only,  upon  a  rock  so  small  that  there 
was  not  room  to  pitch  the  tent. 

\\\  a  more  and  more  open  water-wa;-  they  pressed  on 
northward,  with  masses  of  ice  breaking  off  from  the 
glaciers  and  icebergs  on  every  side.  On  August  9,  while 
they  were  in  the  act  of  forcing  asunder  two  floes,  among 
a  number  of  icebergs,  a  huge  piece  of  an  iceberg  fell 
down  with  a  mighty  crash  upon  the  floe  they  were  stand- 
ing on,  smashing  it  and  violently  churning  up  the  sea. 
"  Had  we  gone   to  that  side  a  few  moments  earlier,  as  we 


ACROSS    GRKE\I.AXD  63 

originally  intended,  \vc  should  almost  certainly  have  been 
crushed  to  death.  It  was  the  third  time  such  a  thing  had 
happened  to  us,"  Nansen  says  in  his  account  of  the  ex])e- 
dition,  characteristically  describing  it  as  "  an  odd  occur- 
rence." Well  may  it  be  called  "  odd  "  !  How  does  it  ha}> 
pen  that  some  men  come  safe  and  sound  through  all  such 
adventures;  go  voyages  on  ice  floes  and  sleep  undisturbed 
while  the  surf  is  on  the  ])()int  of  breaking  up  the  fragile 
barrier  between  them  and  eternity;  row  in  boats  under 
toppling  icebergs,  and  get  clear  of  them  two  minutes  be- 
fore they  fall ;  plump  into  fissures  in  the  inland  ice  at  the 
very  points  where  their  arms  and  their  ali)enst()cks  can 
save  them;  row  for  days  in  dangerous  waters  in  nut>he]l 
boats  improvised  out  of  sail-cloth,  and  get  in  just  in  time 
to  escape  storms  and  certain  destruction  ;  sleep  on  the  ice 
in  a  temperature  of  —45°  C.  (—49°  Fahr.)  without  freezing 
to  death  ;  fall  into  the  ice-cold  water  half  a  score  of  times 
not  only  without  drowning,  but  without  so  much  as  taking 
cold  ;  lead  a  dog's  life  of  toil  and  hunger  for  months  at  a 
stretch,  and  come  out  none  the  worse  for  it ;  while  others 
—  alas!  one  has  no  heart  to  insist  on  the  contrast.  But 
truly  it  may  well  be  called  "odd"! 

Let  us  admit  that  ninety-nine  hundredths  of  thi>  "devil  s 
own  luck  "  is  due  to  having  an  eye  on  every  fmger,  so  to 
speak  —  is  due  to  the  sound  mind  in  the  sound  body  — 
to  the  alert  capacity  of  genius  —  to  the  indomitable  energy 
of  the  man  with  a  vocation.  Granted  all  this,  how  are  we 
to  account  for  the  remaining  hundredth  .■* 

These  (ireenland  exj^lorers  are  in  league  with  destiny! 
When  Njaal  and  his  sons  were  hard  bestead,  Njaal  would 
have  had  them  give  in  ;  and  one  of  the  sons  agreed  with 
liim  tlKit  tlial  was  "the  l)est   they  could  do."     Whereuj^on 


64  A\-LyS£iV  AY   THE   FROZEN  WORLD 

Skaq^hcdin  answered  :  "  I  am  not  so  sure  of  that,  for  now 
he  is  fe\-."  Tlie  Saga-man  would  have  us  understand  that 
he  who  is  "  fey,"  who  is  marked  for  death,  has  no  longer 
complete  control  of  his  will  and  his  intelligence. 

These  young  men  were  not  "  fey  "  in  any  sense  of  the 
word.* 

They  now  j^ressed  forward  in  tolerably  open  water  j^ast 
the  glacier-bound  coast  near  Gyldenlox'e's  h^jord  and  Col- 
berger  Heide,  and  at  last,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening 
of  August  lo,  in  a  thick  fog,  they  made  their  final  land- 
ing on  the  north  side  of  Umiviksfjord.  They  were  now 
done  with  the  boats,  and  were  overjoyed  to  haul  them  up 
on  land,  Nansen  meanwhile  making  the  coffee  "  for  the 
second  hot  meal  in  twelve  days." 

After  Nansen  and  Sverdrup  had  assured  themselves,  by 
a  laborious  reconnaissance  on  August  ii,  that  it  was  pos- 
sible to  make  the  ascent  of  the  inland  ice  from  Umivik, 
the  following  days  were  devoted  to  all  kinds  of  repairs 
of  foot-gear,  sledge-runners,  etc.,  the  final  j^acking  of  the 
baggage,  and,  in  short,  the  most  careful  preparation  for 
the  journey  that  lay  before  them.  During  all  these  days 
the  weather  was  mild  and  calm,  with  a  great  deal  of  rain 
—  weather  in  which  it  would  not  in  any  case  have  been 
advisable  to  make  a  start. 

At  last,  at  nine  in  the  evening  on  August  i6,  every- 
thing was  in  order  for  the  ascent.  Hie  baggage  was 
stowed  on  four  sledges,  each  carrying  about  220  lbs.,  and 
a  fifth,  somewhat  larger  sledge,  carrying  about  double  that 
amount.  This  last  was  therefore  drawn  by  two  men, 
Nansen  and  S\erdrup. 

'  The  worrl  in   tlic   ori,c;inal    is  "  feig,"  wliich    means  not  only  "  fey,"   but 
"  cowardly." 


ACJWSS   GREENLAXn  65 

The  asccMTt  of  the  ice  was  very  steep,  so  that  their  pio- 
gress  was  slow,  and,  althougli  they  at  first  travelled  by 
night,  the  surface  was  soft.  The  ice  was  full  of  crevasses, 
yet  not  so  difficult  but  that  they  could  manage  to  get 
across  them.  It  rained  a  good  deal,  too,  so  that  they  were 
wet  to  the  skin.  For  three  days  and  nights,  from  noon 
on  the  17th  till  the  morning  of  the  20th,  the  weather  was 
so  execrable,  with  torrents  of  rain  and  wind,  that  there 
was  nothing  for  it  but  to  kec])  to  the  tent.  They  were 
not  very  agreeable  clays,  especially  as  the  supply  of  provi- 
sions was  so  small  that  Nansen  decided  that  one  meal  a 
day  must  suffice  while  they  were  doing  nothing. 

On  the  20th  they  were  able  to  start  off  again.  It  was 
frightfully  slow  going,  over  the  steep  surface,  full  of  rents 
and  fissures.  On  the  21st  it  cleared  up,  and  there  was 
frost  enough  to  make  the  snow  firmer.  I'^rom  that  clay 
till  thev  reached  the  west  coast  they  found  no  drinkinor 
water  anywhere,  and  consequently  suffered  from  a  burn- 
ing thirst.  While  on  the  march  they  got  nothing  to  drink 
but  just  what  they  could  melt  by  the  warmth  of  their  own 
bodies.  They  filled  small  fiat  pocket-flasks  with  snow  and 
carried  them  in  their  breasts,  often  next  the  skin,  until  the 
snow  was  melted.  In  such  intense  cold  as  they  encoun- 
tered later,  these  were  hard-earned  dro])s. 

When  they  turned  out  at  two  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of  the  2 2d,  they  found  a  frozen  surface.  They  were  now 
at  a  height  of  about  3,000  feet,  and  thought  they  had  got 
over  the  worst  of  the  ascent.  But  the  ice  was  still  very 
uneven,  and  the  labor  of  dragging  along  the  heavy  sledges 
was  terrible  —  "  the  strain  on  the  ujjper  part  of  the  body 
was  very  trying,  and  our  shoulders  felt  as  if  they  were 
burned  by  the  ropes." 
6 


66  AUXSJSX  /.V  THE   FRO/. EN  WORLD 

iM-oni  the  24th  onward  they  travelled  by  day.  The 
cold  now  began  to  increase  rapidly.  Nevertheless,  except 
for  a  single  day,  the  surface  was  still,  as  a  rule,  extremely 
heavy,  on  account  of  the  loose  snow  into  which  the 
sledges  sank  deep  ;  and  on  the  26th  they  had,  in  addition, 
a  regular  snow-storm.  The  ascent  was  still  so  steep  (a 
gradient,  sometimes,  of  1  in  4)  that  it  would  often  take 
three  men  to  i)ull  each  sledge,  so  that  they  had  to  cover 
the  ground  several  times  over.  No  wonder  that  Chris- 
tiansen, who,  as  a  rule,  never  opened  his  mouth,  should 
have  said  to  Dietrichson  after  one  of  these  return  jour- 
neys.: "  Good  Lord  !  to  think  of  people  being  so  cruel 
to  themselves  as  to  go  in  for  this  sort  of  thing."  The 
expedition  had  then  reached  a  height  of  about  6,000  feet. 

This  weather,  with  wind  and  snow-liurries,  continued 
during  the  following  days.  Although  they  tried  to  make 
use  of  the  wind  by  rigging  up  tarpaulin  sails  on  the 
sledges,  they  nevertheless  got  on  so  slowly  that  it  began 
to  dawn  on  Nansen  that,  at  this  rate,  there  would  be  small 
prospect  of  reaching  Christianshaab  now  that  the  season 
was  so  far  advanced.  On  the  28th,  therefore,  he  deter- 
mined to  take  a  different  direction,  and  steer  due  west,  for 
Godthaab,  or  rather  for  the  shores  of  the  Ameralikfjord 
(64°  10'),  directly  south  of  Godthaab,  a  considerably  nearer 
point  on  the  west  coast.  This  proposition  was  received 
with  joy  by  every  one,  and  they  set  off  through  the  snow 
with  the  same  unremitting  toil,  although  in  a  slightly  dif- 
ferent direction. 

The  projecting  peaks  (nunataks)  which,  up  to  this  point, 
they  had.jDassed  from  time  to  time,  now  disappeared  ;  the 
last  glimpse  of  bare  rock  was  seen  on  August  31.  After 
that  nothing  but  ice  and  snow  met  their  view  until  they 
reached  the  west  coast. 


AC/WSS    GREENLAND  67 

Still  tJK'ir  course  lay  steadily  upward.  'I'hc  snow-JRld 
r(.)sc  in  long,  gentle  waves,  higher  and  higher  toward  the 
interior, 

l'\)r  weeks  tliey  fcnight  tlieir  way  inland  in  this  fashion, 
one  day  exactly  resembling  another,  and  full  of  endless 
toil  from  morning  till  night.  The  surface  of  the  snow- 
was  now  smooth  and  even  as  a  mirror,  l)roken  onl\-  l)y 
the  tracks  the)'  themseh'cs  made  with  their  feet  or  tluir 
sledges.  The  snow,  frec|uentl\'  fresh-fallen,  was,  as  a  rule, 
fine  and  dry,  and  therefore  exceptionally  heavy  to  drag 
the  sledges  through.  The  day's  marcli  under  these  con- 
ditions was  not  long  —  not  more  than  from  fi\'e  to  ten 
miles,  although  they  were  now  able  to  use  snow-shoes. 

As  they  advanced  the  cold  became  more  and  more 
severe.  When  the  weather  was  fine,  indeed,  the  midday 
sun  w'as  often  quite  oppressive,  and  their  feet  would  get 
wet  in  the  slush  ;  but  as  soon  as  the  sun  went  down,  they 
felt  the  cold  of  the  nights  so  much  the  more  keenly  — 
and  they  were  often  in  danger  of  having  their  wet  feet 
frost-bitten.  "  It  often  hap])ened,  when  we  came  to  take 
off  our  laupar-shoes  of  an  evening,  that  we  found  them 
frozen  fast  in   one  solid  piece  with   snow-sock  and  stock- 

ing." 

On  September  11,  the   temperature  at  night  within  the 

tent  was  under  — 40^  C.  ( —  40°  Fahr.),  and  outside  the  tent 
probably  under  —45'  C.  ( — 49"  Fahr.).  The  difference  be- 
tween the  day  and  the  night  temperature  was  often  more 
than  20°  C.  (36°  Fahr.).  Fven  inside  the  closed  sleej:)ing- 
bag,  the  cold  was  so  severe  that  when  they  awakened  they 
would  often  find  their  heads  completel)'  surrounded  with 
ice  and  hoar  frost.  "  To  be  obliged  to  be  out  constantly 
in  such  cold  is   not  always  agreeable,"  says  Nansen  in  his 


68  jVANSEN  AV  the  FROZEN  WORLD 

book.  "  It  often  happened  that  so  much  ice  formed  about 
the  face  that  the  beard  was  absolutely  frozen  fast  to  the 
wrappings  round  the  head,  and  it  was  difficult  enough  to 
open  the  mouth  to  speak."  When  in  addition  to  the  frost 
there  came  a  snow-storm,  we  can  readily  understand  that 
it  was  no  joke  for  them  to  drag  themselves,  each  with  a 
hea\^  sledge,  day  after  day  across  the  interminable  ice 
desert,  at  an  altitude  of  8,000  or  9,000  feet  above  the  sea. 
From  September  4  to  8  they  encountered  a  furious  snow- 
storm, with  a  temperature  of  —40°  Fahr.  On  the  7th,  in- 
deed, they  dared  not  stir  from  their  tent,  which  was  care- 
fully hauled  taut,  lest  the  wind  should  blow  it  to  shreds  — 
in  which  case,  no  doubt,  their  saga  would  have  been  over. 
But  when  it  was  at  all  possible  their  daily  life  followed  its 
regular  course;  and  in  spite  of  cold  and  snow-storm,  tliirst, 
"  fat  hunger,"  and  other  hardships,  they  toiled  steadily  on 
toward  the  west  coast.  On  September  5  they  passed  the 
highest  point  on  their  route,  8,860  feet. 

On  September  1 1  and  1 2  they  were  at  a  height  of  about 
8,300  feet;  and  from  liere  began  a  perceptible,  if  not  a 
very  marked,  down  gradient  toward  the  west.  On  the 
1 6th  they  came  upon  several  pretty  sharp  declivities,  and 
when  the  temperature  at  night  "  just  failed  to  reach  zero  " 
they  all  felt  that  it  was  quite  mild. 

On  the  17th  they  saw  a  snow-bunting,  and  knew  they 
must  now  be  nearing  "  land." 

On  the  19th  they  had  a  favorable  wind,  and  hoisted 
sails  on  the  sledges,  which  they  lashed  together,  two  and 
two.  They  were  soon  going  at  a  spanking  pace,  and 
now  at  last  they  were  distinctly  upon  the  downward  slope 
toward  the  coast.  Late  in  the  afternoon  they  saw  "  land  " 
for  the  first  time.     They  went  on  sailing  in  the  moonlight, 


ACJWSS   GREENLAND 


69 


and  very  nearly  suilctl  ihcir  last  voyage,  for  the)'  had  now- 
reached  the  fissured  marginal  zone  of  the  inland  ice,  with 
its  yawning  crevasses  niaii)-  hundred  feet  deep. 

Nansen  himself  had  the  fingers  of  botJi  hands  frost- 
bitten that  evening,  and  suffered  "almost  intolerable  pain" 
(it  must  have  been  bad  indeed  !).     They  had  little  enough 


UNDKR    SAII,    IN    THE    MUONl.IC.I  I  1  —  '   1: 1 A  A^sI.n    AlllAH 


to  eat,  too  ;  but  for  all  this  they  cared  not  a  whit,  for  they 
knew  now  that  they  were  nearing  the  west  coast. 

The  next  morning  (September  20)  when  they  looked 
out  of  the  tent,  and  saw  the  whole  country  south  of  Godt- 
haabsfjord  spread  out  before  them,  one  can  guess  what 
were  their  feelings.  "  We  were  like  children  —  a  lumj) 
rose  in  our  throats,  while  our  e\es  followed  the  valleys  and 
sought  in  vain  for  a  g]imj)se  of  the  sea." 


70  A'.-JXS£X  IX  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

The  next  day  they  advanced  pretty  briskly,  aUhougli 
with  the  greatest  caution,  on  account  of  the  numerous 
fissures,  among  which  they  had  many  narrow  escapes. 
( )n  the  evening  of  tlie  21st,  for  the  first  lime  since  leaving 
the  east  coast,  they  f(.)und  water,  and  after  several  weeks 
of  thirst  were  able  to  drink  freely.  "  We  could  {positively 
feel  our  stomachs  distending,"  says  Nansen.  These  were 
memorable  days  for  them  all. 

They  pushed  on  now  toward  .Ameralikfjord  ;  l3ut  it  was 
an  advance  under  difficulties.  The  ice  soon  became  terri- 
bly uneven,  and  full  of  cracks  and  crevasses  on  all  sides  — 
sometimes  so  impassable  that  they  had  to  make  long  de- 
tours. Several  times,  one  or  another  of  them  would  fall 
into  a  crevasse,  but  would  generally  manage  to  get  his 
alpenstock  fixed  like  a  horizontal  bar  across  the  fissure. 
"  It  was  odd  enough  that  none  of  us  fell  in  any  deeper." 

In  spite  of  untold  difficulties  and  dangers  they  made 
their  way  during  the  succeeding  days  across  this  treacher- 
ous marginal  zone,  and  at  last,  on  September  24,  reached 
naked  soil,  and  had  the  inland  ice  forever  behind  them. 
"  No  words  can  possibly  describe  what  it  was  to  us  merely 
to  have  earth  and  stones  under  our  feet  —  the  sense  of 
well-being  that  thrilled  through  every  nerve  when  we  felt 
the  heather  springing  under  our  step,  and  smelled  the 
mar\'ellous  fragrance  of  grass  and  moss." 

Their  difficulties,  however,  w^ere  not  yet  over  —  they 
had  still  a  good  way  to  go  down  the  long  Austmannadal, 
and  now  e\'er)-thing  had  to  be  carried  on  their  backs. 
This  final  stage  they  accomplished  in  the  following  da3's, 
and  at  last  the  fjord  was  reached. 

lierc  Sverdrup  and  Balto  set  to  work  to  stitch  together 
the  hull  of  a  canvas  boat,  using  for  the  purpose  the  sail- 


ACROSS   GREENLAND 


71 


NANSKN    AND    S\ERDRUI"    IN    THE   CANVAS    );oAT 


cloth  floor  of  tlu-  tent ;  while  Nansen  cut  willow-wands  to 
make  the  frame.  Oars  were  improvised  out  of  bamboo 
staves  and  split  willow-branches  covered  with  sail-cloth. 
For  thwarts  they  had  nothing  but  a  theodolite-stand  and 
two  thin  bamboo  rods. 

It  was  an  uncouth  nutshell  of  a  boat,  about  8  feet  long, 
not  quite  4  feet  6  inches  wide,  and  scarcely  2  feet  deejD. 
It  was  just  big  enough  to  hold  Nansen  and  Sverdrup,  and 
the  most  necessary  baggage;  and  they  had  to  keep  their 
tongues  pretty  straight  in  their  mouths,  or  it  would  have 
capsized. 

After  a  terrible  business  in  getting  boat  and  baggage 
through  the  river  delta  and  across  a  clayey  spit  of  land  to 
the  open  water,  on  September  29,  Nansen  and  Svcrdruj) 
at  last  rowed  off  down  the  Ameralikfjord.  Although  the 
boat  could  scarcely  be  classed  as  Ai,  and  leaked  so  that  it 


72  NANSEN  IN  THE   FROZEN   WORLD 

had  to  be  baled  cNcry  ten  minutes,  it  nevertheless  carried 
them  to  their  journey's  end. 

They  had  fa\orable  weather  on  the  whole,  and,  by  dint 
of  great  exertions,  they  brought  their  coracle  safe  and 
sound  to  New  Herrnhut  at  midday  on  October  3. 
Scarcely  had  they  got  ashore  when  a  terrific  southerly 
gale  came  on.  From  New  Herrnhut  the}-  went  overland 
to  Godthaab. 

Dietrichson,  Christiansen,  and  tlie  two  LapjDS,  who  had 
remained  behind  at  the  head  of  the  Ameralikfjord  with 
the  bulk  of  the  baggage  and  no  great  store  of  provisions, 
were  brought  off  in  safety  as  soon  as  the  weather  per- 
mitted;  and  thus,  on  October  16,  did  this  remarkable 
expedition  come  to  a  fortunate  close. 

"We  had  toiled  hard,  and  undeniably  suffered  a  good 
deal  in  order  to  reach  this  goal ;  and  what  were  now  our 
sensations.?  Were  they  those  of  the  happy  victor?  No; 
we  had  looked  forward  so  long  to  the  goal  that  we  had 
discounted  its  attainment."  So  Nansen  writes  of  his  feel- 
ings the  evening  before  they  arri\-ed  at  Godthaab.  And 
this  is,  no  doubt,  comprehensible  enough.  They  were  too 
tired,  too  worn  out,  for  the  abstract  exultation  at  having 
actually  reached  their  goal  to  be  able  to  assert  itself  effec- 
tually against  the  more  material  delights,  for  example,  of 
eating  till  they  were  satisfied  and  sleeping  in  a  proper 
bed. 

l>esides,  the  satisfaction  had  been  broken  uj)  into  many 
happy  moments  during  the  actual  journey  —  they  had  had 
a  taste  of  it  when,  with  confident  hope,  they  landed  on  the 
east  coast,  after  forcing  their  passage  through  the  drift 
ice;  they  had  revelled  in  it  when  they  first  saw  land  from 
the  heights  of  the  inland  ice,  when  they  first  found  water 


^/C7v'6'.S;V   GREENLAND  73 

to  drink,  when  ihcy  first  felt  tlic  solid  earth,  with  lu-atlier 
and  moss,  under  tlieir  feet,  when  they  launched  their  boat 
on  the  waves  of  the  .Vmeralikfjord.  Tlie  satisfaction 
really  lay  in  the  exploit  as  a  whole,  in  the  stimulating 
o])en-air  life,  toilsome  though  it  was  —  not  so  much  in  the 
goal  attained,  as  in  the  struggle  to  attain  it.  As  soon  as 
that  was  done,  why,  it  was  done;  there  was  no  longer 
anything  to  toil  and  strive  for,  and  lassitude  rushed  in 
upon  them  until  other  more  distant  goals  began  to  loom 
ahead  in  their  thoughts.  This,  indeed,  is  what  inevitably 
happens  to  every  man  who  is  really  born  with  the  s]iirit 
of  research.  So  long  as  he  has  strength  and  faculty  for 
new  problems,  his  joy  over  those  achieved  must  be  short- 
lived. It  must  give  place,  in  the  ferment  of  the  mind,  to 
new  asi)irations ;  and  in  Nansen's  case  these  new  aspira- 
tions were  already  l)-ing  in  wait.  We  may  safel}'  assume 
that  even  during  his  stay  in  Greenland  the  plan  of  hi> 
next  great  enterprise  must  have  been  taking  shape  in  his 
thoughts. 

When  the  expedition  reached  the  colony,  the  shij)  from 
Godthaab  had  already  started.  Nansen,  howexer,  got 
kaiak-men  to  take  letters  to  Ivigtut,  seventy  miles  south 
of  Godthaab.  They  were  duly  delivered,  at  the  last 
moment,  on  board  the  steamer  Fo.w  whicli  had  carried 
McClintock  on  his  voyage  in  search  of  I'ranklin  ;  and 
thus  the  news  of  the  successful  issue  of  the  Greenland 
expedition  reached  Europe  that  autumn.  It  chanced 
that  the  Fox  was  obliged,  by  scarcity  of  coal,  to  tt)uch  at 
Skudesnaes,  so  that  Nansen's  native  country  got  the  fir>t 
intelligence. 

The    two    letters    brought    by    the    steamer,    one    from 


74  N.-LVSEA"  JN  THE    FKOZK.X    WORLD 

Xanscn  to  Gamel,  the  other  from  Sverch-up  to  liis  fatlier, 
were  soon  teleg-raphed  o\-er  the  whole  world,  and,  as  will 
be  remembered,  were  everywhere  recei\-ed  with  great 
rejoicing. 

Meanwhile  Nansen  and  his  comrades  had  to  winter  in 
Godthaab,  where  Merr  Bistrups,  the  director  of  the  colon}-, 
Doctor  Binzers,  Pastor  Balles,  and  the  other  Danish 
residents,  showed  them  the  greatest  hospitality,  and  did 
e\-er\lhing  to  make  their  stay  as  })leasant  as  possible, 
Nansen  himself  turned  his  time  to  account  in  studying 
the  I'^skimos.  lie  shared  their  life  with  them  in  their 
luits,  went  thoroughly  into  their  methods  of  hunting, 
their  customs  and  occupations,  and  even  got  to  know 
their  language  pretty  well.  He  learned  to  manage  the 
kaiak  and  wield  their  weapons;  in  short,  he  spared  no 
possible  pains  in  his  stud)'  of  this  remarkable  i)eople,  for 
whom  he  soon  came  to  entertain  a  real  affection. 

He  also  made  several  excursions  with  the  Greenlanders, 
a  hunting  expedition  to  Ameralikfjord,  and  longer  trips 
to  Sardlok  and  Kangek,  during  which  he  lived  for  some 
weeks  entirely  with  the  Mskimos. 

On  A})ril  15,  18S9,  while  Nansen  and  his  comrades  sat 
chatting  over  their  coffee  with  the  colonial  director  and 
the  doctor,  the  whole  colony  resounded  with  one  universal 
cr)',  "  Umiarsuit !  Umiarsuit !  "  (The  ship,  the  ship  !) 
It  was  the  longed-for  vessel,  Hvidbjonien,  under  the 
command  of  Lieutenant  (iarde. 

The  hour  of  dej^arture  had  come,  and  everything  was 
soon  in  order.  "  It  was  not  without  sorrow,"  Nansen 
says,  "  that  some  of  us  turned  our  backs  on  the  people 
\\\\()  had  been  so  good  to  us,  and  the  place  where  we  had 
lived  so  happily."     So  far  as  Nansen  himself  is  concerned, 


AC  A' OSS   GREENLAND  75 

one  may  he  sure  that  these  words  are  tlie  e.\i)ressi()n  of 
sincere  feeling-.  A  nature  like  liis,  with  its  licalthy 
])assi()n  for  opuu-air  arti\it\-,  nuist  haw  heeu  in  its  ele- 
ment anions'  these  kindl)-  priniitiw  ])eo])!e.  lie  relates 
a  charmingly  characteristic  little  incident  of  their  leave- 
taking.  One  of  his  Eskimo  friends,  whom  lie  had  often 
visited,  said  to  him  the  day  before  his  dcj^arture :  "  Now 
you  are  going  back  to  the  great  world  whence  you  came 
to  us,  and  \-ou  will  meet  many  peojjle  there,  and  hear 
many  new  things,  and  you  will  soon  forget  us;  dul  zue 
lui/l  never  forget  you!' 

Those  who  know  Nansen  know  that  he  has  not  forgot- 
ten his  Eskimo  friends  ;  and  those  w  ho  have  read  his  book 
describing  their  life  will  understand  how  dear  they  had 
become  to  him. 

On  May  21,  after  a  favorable  passage,  Hvidbjoriien  an- 
chored in  the  harbor  of  Copenhagen.  It  was  a  little  more 
than  a  year  since  Nansen,  on  his  way  to  Greenland,  had 
passed  through  Copenhagen,  and  i)ut  the  hasty  finishing 
touches  to  the  jireparations  for  the  expedition.  A  great 
deal  had  happened  in  the  interval.  In  himself,  indeed,  he 
was  just  the  same  when  he  came  back  as  when  he  went 
away  ;  but  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  he  w\as  a  very  differ- 
ent person.  Then  he  had  been  a  young  dare-devil  setting 
forth  on  a  forlorn  hope;  now  he  \vas  the  world-renowned 
explorer  who  had  successfully  carried  through  a  great  un- 
dertaking. 

And  then  came  the  triumphs.  Finst  a  week's  festivi- 
ties in  Copenhagen,  and  then  the  home-coming— such  a 
home-coming  as  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  no  other  Norwe- 
gian. It  was  a  lovely  day  as  the  triumj^hal  ])rocession 
passed  up  Christiania   h'jord  —  all  the  ships  were  in  festal 


76 


A^4.VSE.V  IN  THE   FROZEN    WORLD 


array,  tlie  woods  wore  their  first  green  leaxes,  there 
were  tiowers  and  flags  and  music  on  e\ery  hand,  u})  the 
whole  long  fjord,  to  the  city.  It  was  as  tliough  a  Hood  of 
color  and  warmth  had  streamed  forth  to  greet  these  vis- 
itants from  the  white  wastes  of  the  inland  ice. 

I'-irst  came  the  men-of-war,  and  the  torpedo  boats,  skim- 
ming along  beside  the 
M.  G.  Mclchior,  and 
forming  a  guard  of 
honor,  right  u])  to  the 
capital  ;  then  the  great 
squadron  of  steamships, 
then  the  sailing-boats 
and  cutters  with  their 
white  sails,  darting 
around  Nansen's  ship 
like  a  flock  of  sea-gulls, 
now  astern,  now  abeam, 
now^  ahead.  There  he 
stood  in  his  gray  clothes 
which  had  turned  to 
dirty  brown  in  the 
Greenland  turf  huts. 
The  honor  done  him 
was  too  overpowering  for  him  to  feel  proud  at  that  mo- 
ment. A  softer  and  more  subdued  emotion  must  doubt- 
less have  been  in  the  ascendant.  Me  must  have  felt  how 
he  jDassed  over  into  his  people,  and  became  one  with  it. 
He  had  gone  forth  as  an  emissary,  an  interpreter  of  this 
people;  the  courage  which  goes  unknown  and  unrecorded 
to  its  fate  in  the  dark  nights  on  sea  and  fjord,  it  had  been 
his  happy  lot  to  lead  forward   into  sunshine  and   victory 


NANSKX    AT   THIRTY-ONE 


ACROSS   GREENLAND  jj 

before  tlic  eyes  of  tlie  whole  world.  Aihoiil;'  all  the  thou- 
sands who  waved  to  liim  from  the  ramparts  of  Akerhus, 
wlio  burst  the  cordon  of  the  police  and  swarmed  round  his 
carriage  in  the  streets,  how  many  at  tliat  moment  had  any 
thought  of  science  ?  It  was  the  exploit  that  appealed  to 
them — they  saw  in  him  the  victorious  cliieftain,  the  con- 
necting link  between  the  heroes  of  the  Sagas  and  tlie 
heroes  of  every-day  Hfe,  the  fisherman  clinging  to  his  o\cr- 
turned  boat,  the  snow-shoer  on  the  wintry  uplands,  the 
lumberman  shooting  the  rapids  on  his  raft.  They  saw  in 
him  the  national  type  ;  and  they  were  right  in  a  way.  In 
that  hour  he  must  certainly  have  felt  himself  close-knit 
to  the  soil  from  which  his  deed  had  sprung,  and  memories 
of  childhood  must  have  rushed  in  upon  him  when  his  car- 
riage stopped  at  the  house  of  the  sisters  Larsen,  and  he 
ran  upstairs  to  greet  the  old  housekeeper  at  Great  Froen, 
who  had  bandaged  his  blood-stained  forehead  the  first 
time  that  he  kissed  the  ice. 


CHAPTER  V 


DRIFTING    TX    TIIK    ICE  ^ 


Next  morninc;',  July  20,  I  was  roused  by  some  violent 
shocks  to  the  floe  on  whicli  we  were  encamped,  and 
thought  tlie  motion  of  the  sea  must  have  increased  very 
considerabh-.  When  we  oret  outside  we  discover  that  the 
floe  has  spht  in  two  not  far  from  the  tent.  The  Lapps, 
wlio  had  at  once  made  for  the  highest  points  of  our  piece 
of  ice,  now  shout  that  they  can  see  the  open  sea.  And 
so  it  is;  far  in  the  distance  lies  the  sea  sparkling  in  the 
mornimr  sunshine.  It  is  a  siQ:ht  we  have  not  had  since 
we  left  the  Jason. 

I  may  here  reproduce  the  entries  in  my  diary  for  this 
and  the  following  day  :  — 

"  The  swell  is  growing  heavier  and  heavier,  and  tlie 
water  breaking  over  our  floe  with  ever-increasing  force. 
The  blocks  of  ice  and  slush,  which  come  from  the  grind- 
ing of  the  floes  together,  and  are  thrown  up  round  the 
edges  of  our  piece,  do  a  good  deal  to  break  the  violence 
of  the  waves.  The  worst  of  it  all  is  that  we  are  being  car- 
ried seaward  with  ominous  rapidity.  We  load  our  sledges 
and  try  to  drag  them  inward  toward  land,  but  soon  see 
that  the  pace  we  are  drifting  at  is  too  much  for  us.  So 
we  begin  again  to  look  around  us  for  a  safer  floe  to  pitch 
our  camp  on,  as  our  present  one  seems  somew^hat  shaky. 
When  we  first  took  to  it  it  was  a  good  round  flat  piece 

'  From  Nansen's  Across  Greenland. 


nRIF'I'LXG    /.V  7//A    /CF.  79 

about  seventy  yards  across,  Imt  it  s])lit  once  cluriiiL;  ibe 
nis^ht,  and  is  now  prcparinjj;  to  part  a^^'ain  at  otlicr  places, 
so  that  we  sliali  soon  not  liave  nuicli  of  it  left.  Close  by 
us  is  a  large  strong  Hoe,  still  unbroken,  and  thither  we 
move  our  cam]). 

"  Meanwhile  tlie  breakers  seem  to  be  drawing  nearer, 
their  roar  grows  louder,  the  swell  comes  rolling  in  and 
washes  over  the  ice  all  around  us,  and  the  situation  prom- 
ises before  long  to  be  critical. 

"  Poor  Lap])s  !  they  are  not  in  the  best  of  spirits.  This 
morning  they  had  disappeared,  and  I  could  not  imagine 
what  had  become  of  them,  as  there  were  not  many  places 
on  our  little  island  where  any  of  us  could  hide  ourselves 
away.  Then  I  noticed  that  some  tarpaulins  had  been 
carefully  laid  over  one  of  the  boats.  I  lifted  a  corner 
gently  and  saw  both  the  Lapps  lying  at  the  bottom  of  the 
boat.  The  younger,  Balto,  w^as  reading  aloud  to  the  other 
out  of  his  Lappish  New-  Testament.  Without  attracti]ig 
their  attention  I  replaced  the  cover  of  this  curious  little 
house  of  prayer  which  they  had  set  up  for  themselves. 
They  had  given  up  hope  of  life,  and  were  making  ready 
for  death."  —  As  Balto  confided  to  me  one  day  long  after- 
w^ard,  they  had  opened  their  hearts  to  one  another  here 
in  the  boat  and  mingled  their  tears  together,  bitterly 
reproaching  themselves  and  others  because  they  had  ever 
been  broutjht  to  leaxe  their  homes.  This  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at,  as  they  have  so  little  interest  in  the 
scheme. 

"  It  is  glorious  weather,  with  the  sun  so  hot  and  liright 
that  we  must  have  recourse  to  our  spectacles.  We  take 
advantaore  of  this  to  get  an  observation,  our  bearings 
showing  us  to  be  in  65^  8'  N.  and  z^°  20'  W .,  i.  c,  30 


8o  jV.lXSE.y  AV  T/ZE  FROZEN   WORLD 

minutes  or  about  35  miles  from  the  mouth  of  SermiHk- 
fjord,  and  from  z^^  to  25  minutes  or  about  30  miles  from 
the  nearest  land. 

"  We  get  our  usual  dinner  ready,  deciding,  however,  in 
honor  of  the  occasion,  to  treat  ourselves  to  pea-soup. 
This  is  the  first  time  we  have  allowed  ourselves  to  cook 
anything.  While  the  soup  is  being  made  the  swell  in- 
creases so  violently  that  our  cooking  apparatus  is  on  the 
point  of  capsizing  o\-er  and  over  again. 

"  The  Lapps  go  through  their  dinner  in  perfect  silence, 
but  the  rest  of  us  talk  and  joke  as  usual,  the  violent  rolls 
of  our  floe  repeatedly  giving  rise  to  witticisms  on  the  part 
of  one  or  other  of  the  company,  which  in  spite  of  our- 
selves kept  our  laughing  muscles  in  constant  use.  As  far 
as  the  Lapps  were  concerned,  however,  these  jests  fell  on 
anything  but  good  ground,  for  they  plainly  enough 
thought  that  this  was  not  at  all  the  proper  time  and  place 
for  such  frivolity. 

"  From  the  highest  point  on  our  floe  we  can  clearly  see 
how  the  ice  is  being  washed  by  the  breakers,  while  the 
columns  of  spray  thrown  high  into  the  air  look  like  white 
clouds  against  the  background  of  blue  sky.  No  living 
thing  can  ride  the  floes  out  there  as  far  as  we  can  see. 
It  seems  inevitable  that  we  must  be  carried  thither,  but, 
as  our  floe  is  thick  and  strong,  we  hope  to  last  for  a  while. 
We  have  no  idea  of  leaving  it  before  we  need,  but  when 
it  comes  to  that,  and  we  can  hold  on  no  longer,  our  last 
chance  will  be  to  try  and  run  our  boats  out  through  the 
surf.  This  will  be  a  wet  amusement,  but  we  are  deter- 
mined to  do  our  best  in  the  fight  for  life.  Our  provi- 
sions, ammunition,  and  other  things  are  di\  idcd  between 
the  two  boats,  so  that  if  one  is   stove  in  and  sinks  we 


DRIFTING  IN  TIIK  ICE  Si 

shall  have  enough  to  keep  us  alive  in  the  other.  We 
i  hould  probably  be  able  to  save  our  lives  in  that  case, 
but  of  course  the  success  of  the  expedition  would  be  \ery 
doubtful. 

"  To  run  one  of  our  loaded  boats  into  the  water 
through  the  heavy  surf  and  rollins:  floes  without  irettin*'- 
her  swamped  or  crushed  will  perhaps  be  possible,  as  we 
can  set  all  our  hands  to  work,  but  it  will  be  difficult  for 
the  crew  of  the  remaining  boat  to  get  their  shij^  launched. 
After  consideration  we  come  to  the  conclusion  that  we 
must  only  put  what  is  absolutely  necessary  into  one  boat, 
and  keep  it  as  light  as  possible,  so  that  in  case  of 
extremity  we  can  take  to  it  alone.  For  the  rest,  we  shall 
see  how  things  look  when  we  actually  reach  the  breakers. 

"  We  have  scarcely  half  a  mile  left  now,  and  none  of  us 
have  any  doubt  but  that  before  another  couple  of  liours 
are  passed  we  shall  find  ourselves  either  rocking  on  the 
open  sea,  making  our  way  along  the  ice  southward,  or 
sinking  to  the  bottom. 

"  Poor  Ravna  deserves  most  sympathy.  He  is  not  yet 
at  all  accustomed  to  the  sea  and  its  caprices.  He  mo\es 
silently  about,  fiddling  with  one  thing  or  another,  now  and 
again  goes  up  to  the  highest  points  of  our  floe,  and  gazes 
anxiously  out  toward  the  breakers.  His  thoughts  are 
evidently  with  his  herd  of  reindeer,  his  tent,  and  wife  and 
children  far  away  on  the  Finmarken  mountains,  wliere  all 
is  now  sunshine  and  summer  weather. 

"  But  why  did  he  ever  leave  all  this  ?  Only  because 
he  was  offered  money.''  Alas!  what  is  money  compared 
with  happiness  and  home,  where  all  is  now  sun  and  sum- 
mer }     Poor  Ravna ! 

"  It  is  but  human  at  such  moments  to  let  the  remem- 

6 


82  A\4.yS£JV  IX  THE   FJWZEN    WORLD 

brance  dwell  on  what  has  been  fairest  in  life,  and  few 
indeed  can  ha\'e  fairer  memories  to  look  back  upon  than 
yours  of  the  mountain  and  reindeer-herd. 

'*  But  here,  too,  the  sun  is  sinning  as  kindly  and  peace- 
fully as  elsewhere,  down  on  the  rolling  sea  and  thundering 
sui-f,  which  is  boiling  round  us.  The  evening  is  glorious, 
as  red  as  it  was  yesterday,  and  as  no  doubt  it  will  be  to- 
morrow and  ever  after,  setting  the  western  sky  on  fire, 
and  pressing  its  last  long  passionate  kiss  on  land  and  ice 
and  sea  before  it  disappears  behind  the  barrier  of  the 
'  inland  ice.'  There  is  not  a  breath  of  wind  stirring,  and 
the  sea  is  rolling  in  upon  us  ruddy  and  polished  as  a 
shield  under  the  light  of  the  evening  sky. 

"  Beautiful  it  is,  indeed,  with  these  huge  long  billows 
coming  rolling  in,  sweeping  on  as  if  nothing  could  with- 
stand them.  They  fall  upon  the  white  floes,  and  then, 
raising  their  green,  dripping  breasts,  they  break  and 
throw  fragments  of  ice  and  spray  far  before  them  on  to 
the  sflitterino:  snow,  or  hi^h  above  them  into  the  blue  air. 
But  it  seems  almost  strange  that  such  surroundings  can 
be  the  scene  of  death.  Yet  death  must  come  one  day, 
and  the  hour  of  our  departure  could  scarcely  be  more 
glorious. 

"  But  we  have  no  time  to  waste  ;  we  are  getting  very 
near  now.  The  swell  is  so  heavy  that  when  we  are  down 
in  the  hollows  we  can  see  nothing  of  the  ice  around  us, 
nothing  but  the  sky  above.  Floes  crash  together,  break, 
and  are  ground  to  fragments  all  about  us,  and  our  own 
has  also  split.  If  we  arc  going  to  sea  we  shall  need  all 
our  strength  in  case  we  have  to  row  for  days  together  in 
order  to  keep  clear  of  the  ice.  So  all  hands  are  ordered 
to  bed   in  the   tent,  which  is   the  only  thing  we   have  not 


DRll-TJNG   IX  Tim    JCK  83 

yet  packed  into  the  boats.  S\erclruj),  as  the  most  exjjeri- 
encecl  and  cool-headed  anioni;  us,  is  to  take  the  first 
watch  and  turn  us  out  at  the  critical  nionient.  In  two 
hours  Christiansen  is  to  take  his  place. 

"  I  look  in  \ain  for  any  sign  which  can  betray  fear  on 
the  part  of  my  comrades,  but  they  seem  as  cool  as  ever, 
and  their  conversation  is  as  usual.  The  Lapps  alone  show 
some  anxiety,  though  it  is  that  of  a  calm  resignation,  for 
they  are  fully  convinced  that  they  have  seen  the  sun  set 
for  the  last  time.  In  sj^ite  of  the  roar  of  the  breakers  we 
are  soon  fast  asleep,  and  even  the  Lapps  seem  to  be  slum- 
bering quietly  and  soundly.  They  are  too  good  children 
of  nature  to  let  anxiety  spoil  their  sleep.  Balto,  who,  not 
finding  the  tent  safe  enough,  is  lying  in  one  of  the  boats, 
did  not  even  wake  when  some  time  later  it  was  almost 
swept  by  the  waves,  and  S\erdrui)  had  to  hold  it  to  keeji 
it  on  the  fioe. 

"  After  sleeping  for  a  while,  I  do  not  know  how  long,  I 
am  woke  by  the  sound  of  the  water  rushing  close  by  my 
head  and  just  outside  the  wall  of  the  tent.  I  feel  the  floe 
rocking  up  and  down  like  a  ship  in  a  heavy  sea,  and  the 
roar  of  the  surf  is  more  deafening  than  e\er.  I  la)-  exjject- 
in«j:  everv  moment  to  hear  Sverdrup  call  me  or  to  see  the 
tent  filled  with  water,  but  nothing  of  the  kind  happened.  I 
could  distinctly  hear  his  familiar  steady  tread  up  and  down 
the  floe  l)etwcen  the  tent  and  the  boats.  I  seemed  to  my- 
self to  see  his  sturdy  form  as  he  i)aced  calmly  backward 
and  forward,  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets  and  a  slight 
stoop  in  his  shoulders,  or  stood  with  his  calm  and  thought- 
ful face  gazing  out  to  sea,  his  quid  now  and  again  turning 
in  his  cheek  —  I  remember  no  more,  as  I  dozed  off  to 
sleep  again. 


84  NANSEN  AV  THE  EROZEX   WORLD 

"  I  did  not  wake  again  till  it  was  full  morning.  Then  I 
started  up  in  astonishment,  for  I  could  hear  nothing  of  the 
breakers  but  a  distant  thunder.  When  I  got  outside  the 
tent  I  saw  that  we  were  a  long  way  off  the  open  sea.  Our 
floe,  however,  was  a  sight  to  remember.  Fragments  of 
ice,  big  and  little,  had  been  thrown  upon  it  by  the  waves 
till  they  fomied  a  rampart  all  around  us,  and  the  ridge 
on  which  our  tent  and  one  of  the  boats  stood  was  the 
onl\-  part  the  sea  had  not  washed. 

"  Sverdrup  now  told  us  that  several  times  in  the  course 
of  the  night  he  had  stood  by  the  tent-door  prepared  to 
turn  us  out.  Once  he  actually  undid  one  hook,  then 
waited  a  bit,  took  another  turn  to  the  boats,  and  then 
another  look  at  the  surf,  leaving  the  hook  unfastened  in 
case  of  accident.  We  were  then  right  out  at  the  extreme 
edge  of  the  ice.  A  huge  crag  of  ice  was  swaying  in  the 
sea  close  beside  us,  and  threatening  every  moment  to  fall 
upon  our  floe.  The  surf  was  washing  us  on  all  sides,  but 
the  rampart  that  had  been  thrown  up  round  us  did  us 
good  sen-ice,  and  the  tent  and  one  of  the  boats  still  stood 
higli  and  dry.  The  other  boat,  in  which  Balto  was  asleep, 
was  washed  so  heavily  that  again  and  again  Sverdrup  had 
to  hold  it  in  its  place. 

"  Then  matters  got  still  worse.  Sverdrup  came  to  the 
tent-door  again,  undid  another  hook,  but  again  hesitated 
and  waited  for  the  next  sea.  He  undid  no  more  hooks, 
however.  Just  as  things  looked  worst,  and  our  floe's  turn 
had  come  to  ride  out  into  the  middle  of  the  breakers,  she 
suddenly  changed  her  course,  and  with  astonishing  speed 
we  were  once  more  sailing  in  toward  land.  So  marv^ellous 
was  the  change  that  it  looked  as  if  it  were  the  work  of  an 
unseen  hand.     When  I  got  out  we  were  far  inside  and  in 


DRIKJ'IXG  IN  THE  JCE 


85 


a  good  harb().Mh„ugh  the  roar  of  the  breakers  was  still 
audible  enough  to  remind  us  of  the  night.  Thus  for  this 
time  we  were  spared  the  expected  trial  of  the  seaworthi- 
ness of  our  boats  and  our  own  seamanship." 


THE  ESKIMO   ENCAMPMENT   AT  CAPE   BILLE 
{By  E.  Nielsen, /roll!  a  photograph) 

CHAPTER   VI 


AN    ESKIMO    ENCAMPMENT    ON    THE    EAST    COAST 

As  we  drew  near  Cape  Bille,  the  promontory  which  Hes 
to  the  north  of  Puisortok,  we  heard  strange  sounds  from 
shore  —  as  it  were,  a  mixture  of  human  voices  and  the 
barking  of  dogs.  As  we  gazed  thither  we  now  caught 
sight  of  some  dark  masses  of  moving  objects,  which,  as 
we  examined  them  more  closely,  we  found  to  be  groups 
of  human  beings.  They  were  spread  over  the  terrace  of 
rock,  were  chattering  in  indistinguishable  Babel,  gesticu- 
lating, and  pointing  toward  us  as  we  worked  our  way 
quietly  through  the  ice.  They  had  evidently  been  watch- 
ing us  for  some  time.  We  now  too  discovered  a  number 
of  skin-tents  which  were  perched  among  the  rocks,  and  at 
the  same  time  became  aware  of  a  noteworthy  smell  of 
train-oil  or  some  similar  substance,  which  followed  the  off- 
shore breeze.  Though  it  was  still  early,  and  though  the 
water  in  front  of  us  seemed  open  for  some  distance,  we 
could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  visiting  these  strange 
and  unknown   beings.     At   the   moment   we   turned   our 

'  From  Nansen's  Across  Greenland. 


A.V  ESKIMO  EXCAMPMEXT  87 

boats  toward  shore  the  clamor  increased  tenfold.  'I  hey 
shrieked  and  yelled,  pointed,  and  rushed,  .^onie  down  to 
the  shore,  others  up  on  to  higher  rocks  in  order  to  see  us 
better.  If  we  were  stopped  by  ice  and  took  out  our  long 
boat-hooks  and  bamboo  ]3oles  to  force  the  floes  a])art  and 
make  ourselves  a  channel,  the  confusion  on  shore  rose  to 
an  e.\traordinar\-  })itch,  the  cries  and  laughter  growing 
simply  hysterical.  As  we  got  in  toward  land  some  men 
came  darting  out  to  us  in  their  "  kaiaks,"  among  them 
a  native  whom  we  had  seen  in  the  morning.  Their  faces 
one  and  all  simply  beamed  with  smiles,  and  in  the  most 
friendly  way  they  swarmed  around  us  in  their  acti\e  little 
craft,  trying  to  point  us  out  the  way,  which  we  could  quite 
well  find  ourselves,  and  gazing  in  wonder  at  our  strong 
boats  as  they  glided  on  regardless  of  ice,  which  would  have 
cut  their  fragile  boats  of  skin  in  pieces. 

At  last  we  passed  the  last  fioe  and  drew  in  to  shore. 
It  was  now  growing  dusk,  and  the  scene  that  met  us  was 
one  of  the  most  fantastic  to  which  I  ha\e  ever  been 
witness.  All  about  the  ledges  of  rock  stood  long  rows 
of  strangely  wild  and  shaggy-looking  creatures  —  men, 
women,  and  children  all  in  much  the  same  scanty  dress 
—  staring  and  pointing  at  us,  and  uttering  the  same  bo- 
vine sound  which  had  so  much  struck  us  in  the  morning. 
Now  it  was  just  as  if  we  had  a  whole  herd  of  cows  about 
us,  lowing  in  chorus  as  the  cowhouse  door  is  opened  in 
the  morning  to  admit  the  expected  fodder.  Down  by 
the  waters  edufc  were  a  number  of  men  eaijerlv  struir- 
gling  and  gesticulating  to  show  us  a  good  landing-place, 
which,  together  with  other  small  services  of  the  kind,  is 
the  acknowledged  Eskimo  welcome  to  strangers  whom 
they  are  pleased  to  see.      Uj)  on  the  rocks  were  a  number 


88  A'.1XS£JV  AV  THE  FROZEN   WORLD 

of  \X'llo\vish-bro\vn  tents,  and  lower  down  canoes,  skin- 
boats,  and  other  implements,  while  more  "  kaiaks " 
swarmed  round  us  in  the  water.  Add  to  all  this  the 
neighboring  glacier,  the  drifting  floes,  and  the  glowing 
evening  sky,  and,  lastly,  our  two  boats  and  six  unkempt- 
looking  selves,  and  the  whole  formed  a  picture  which  we 
at  least  are  not  likely  to  forget.  The  life  and  movement 
were  a  welcome  contrast  indeed  to  the  desolation  and 
silence  which  we  had  so  Ions:  endured. 

It  was  not  long,  of  course,  before  our  boats  were  safely 
moored,  and  we  standing  on  shore  surrounded  by  crowds 
of  natives,  who  scanned  us  and  our  belongings  with  won- 
dering eyes.  Beaming  smiles  and  kindliness  met  us  on 
all  sides.  A  smiling  face  is  the  Eskimo's  greeting  to  a 
strano^er,  as  his  lanoruao-e  has  no  formula  of  welcome. 

Then  we  look  around  us  for  a  bit.  Here  amid  the  ice 
and  snow  these  people  seemed  to  be  comfortable  enough, 
and  we  felt  indeed  that  we  would  willingly  prolong  our 
stay  among  them.  As  we  stopped  in  front  of  the  largest 
tent,  at  the  sight  of  the  comfortable  glow  that  shone  out 
through  its  outer  opening,  we  were  at  once  invited  in  by 
signs.  W'e  accepted  the  invitation,  and  as  soon  as  we 
had  passed  the  outer  doorway  a  curtain  of  thin  membra- 
neous skin  was  pushed  aside  for  us,  and,  bending  our 
heads  as  we  entered,  we  found  ourselves  in  a  cosey  room. 

The  sight  and  smell  which  now  met  us  were,  to  put  it 
mildly,  at  least  unusual.  I  had  certainly  been  given  to 
understand  that  the  Eskimos  of  the  east  coast  of  Green- 
land were  in  the  habit  of  reducing:  their  indoor  dress  to 
the  smallest  possible  dimensions,  and  that  the  atmosphere 
of  their  dwellings  was  the  reverse  of  pleasant.  But  a 
sight  so  extraordinary,  and  a  smell   so   remarkable,  had 


AN  ESKIMO  ENCAMPMENT  89 

never  come  witliin  tlie  grasp  of  my  imagination.  The 
smell,  which  was  a  peculiar  blendin<^  of  several  charac- 
teristic ingredients,  was  quite  enough  to  occupy  one's 
attention  at  first  entrance.  The  most  prominent  of  the 
components  was  due  to  the  numerous  train-oil  lamps 
which  were  burning,  and  this  powerful  odor  was  well 
tempered  witli  human  exhalations  of  every  conceivable 
kind,  as  well  as  the  pungent  efiluvia  of  a  certain  fetid 
liquid  which  was  stored  in  vessels  here  and  there  about 
the  room,  and  which,  as  I  subsequently  learned,  is,  from 
the  various  uses  to  which  it  is  applied,  one  of  the  most 
important  and  valuable  commodities  of  Eskimo  domestic 
economy.  Into  further  details  I  think  it  is  scarcelv  ad- 
visable  to  go,  and  I  must  ask  the  reader  to  accept  my 
assurance  that  the  general  effect  was  anything  but  at- 
tractive to  the  unaccustomed  nose  of  the  new-comer. 
However,  familiarity  soon  has  its  wonted  effect,  and  one's 
first  abhorrence  may  even  before  long  give  way  to  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  pleasure.  But  it  is  not  the  same  with 
every  one,  and  one  or  two  of  our  part}-  were  e\en  con- 
strained to  retire  incontinently. 

For  my  own  part,  I  soon  found  myself  sufficiently  at 
ease  to  be  able  to  use  my  eyes.  My  attention  was  first 
arrested  by  the  number  of  naked  forms  which  thronged 
the  tent  in  standing,  sitting,  and  reclining  positions.  All 
the  occupants  were,  in  fact,  attired  in  their  so-called 
"  natit  "  or  indoor  dress,  the  dimensions  of  which  are  so 
extremely  small  as  to  make  it  practically  invisible  to  the 
stranger's  inexperienced  eye.  The  dress  consists  of  a 
narrow  band  about  the  loins,  which  in  the  case  of  the 
women  is  reduced  to  the  smallest  possible  dimensions. 

Of  false  modesty,  of  course,  there  was  no  sign,  but  it  is 


90  A^AA^S£A'  AV  7J/£   FROZEN  WORLD 

not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  unaffected  ingenuousness 
with  whicli  all  intercourse  was  carried  on  made  a  very 
strange  impression  upon  us  conventional  Europeans  in 
the  first  instance.  Nor  will  the  blushes  which  rose  to  the 
cheeks  of  some  among  us  when  we  saw  a  party  of  young 
men  and  women  who  followed  us  into  the  tent  at  once 
proceed  to  attire  themselves  in  their  indoor  dress,  or,  in 
other  words,  divest  themselves  of  every  particle  of  cloth- 
ing which  they  wore,  be  laid  to  our  discredit,  when  it  is 
remembered  that  we  had  been  accustomed  to  male  society 
exclusively  during  our  voyage  and  adventures  among  the 
ice.  The  Lapps  especially  were  much  embarrassed  at 
the  unwonted  sight. 

The  natives  now  thronijed  in  in  numbers,  and  the  tent 
was  soon  closely  packed.  We  had  been  at  once  invited 
to  sit  down  upon  some  chests  which  stood  by  the  thin 
skin-curtain  at  the  entrance.  These  are  the  seats  which 
are  always  put  at  the  disposal  of  visitors,  while  the  occu- 
pants have  their  places  upon  the  long  bench  or  couch 
which  fills  the  back  part  of  the  tent.  This  couch  is  made 
of  planks,  is  deep  enough  to  give  room  for  a  body  re- 
clining at  full  length,  and  is  as  broad  as  the  w'hole  width 
of  the  tent.  It  is  covered  with  several  layers  of  seal-skin, 
and  upon  it  the  occupants  spend  their  whole  indoor  life, 
men  and  women  alike,  sitting  often  cross-legged  as  they 
work,  and  taking  their  meals  and  rest  and  sleep. 

The  tent  itself  is  of  a  very  peculiar  construction.  The 
framework  consists  of  a  sort  of  high  trestle,  upon  which  a 
number  of  poles  are  laid,  forming  a  semicircle  below,  and 
converging  more  or  less  to  a  point  at  the  top.  Over 
these  poles  a  double  layer  of  skin  is  stretched,  the  inner 
coat  with  the  hair  turned  inward,  and  the  outer  generally 


AN  ESKIMO  ENCAMPMENT  91 

consisting  of  the  old  coverings  of  boats  and  "  kaiaks." 
llie  entrance  is  under  tlie  above-mentioned  trestle,  which 
is  covered  by  the  thin  curtain  of  which  I  have  already 
spoken. 

This  particular  tent  housed  four  or  five  differeiit  fami- 
lies. Each  of  them  had  its  own  partition  marked  off 
upon  the  common  couch,  and  in  each  of  tlie  stalls  so 
formed  man,  wife,  and  children  would  be  closely  packed, 
a  four-foot  space  thus  having  sometimes  to  accommodate 
husband,  two  wives,  and  six  or  more  children. 

Before  every  family  stall  a  train-oil  lamp  was  burning 
with  a  broad  flame.  These  lamps  are  flat,  semicircular 
vessels  of  pot-stone,  about  a  foot  in  length.  The  wick  is 
made  of  dried  moss,  which  is  placed  against  one  side  of 
the  lamp  and  continually  fed  with  pieces  of  fresh  blubber, 
which  soon  melts  into  oil.  The  lamps  are  in  charge  of 
the  women,  who  have  special  sticks  to  manipulate  the 
wicks  with,  to  keep  them  both  from  smoking  and  from 
burning  too  low.  Great  pots  of  the  same  stone  hang 
above,  and  in  them  the  Eskimos  cook  all  their  food  which 
they  do  not  eat  raw^  Strange  to  say,  they  use  neither 
peat  nor  wood  for  cooking  purposes,  though  such  fuel  is 
not  dif^cult  to  procure.  The  lamps  are  kept  burning 
night  and  day  ;  they  serve  for  both  heating  and  lighting 
purposes,  for  the  Eskimo  does  not  sleej)  in  the  dark,  like 
other  people;  and  they  also  serve  to  maintain  a  perma- 
nent odor  of  train-oil,  which,  as  I  have  said,  our  Euro- 
pean senses  at  first  found  not  altogether  attractive,  but 
which  they  soon  learned  not  only  to  tolerate,  but  to  take 
pleasure  in. 

As  we  sat  in  a  row  on  the  chests,  taking  stock  of  our 
strancre   surroundimrs,  our  hosts   began    to   try  to  enter- 


92  AU.VS£jV  IX  'THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

tain  us.  The  use  of  every  object  we  looked  at  was  kindly 
explained  to  us,  partly  by  means  of  words,  of  which  we 
understood  nothing,  and  partly  by  actions,  which  were 
somewhat  more  within  reach  of  our  comprehension.  In 
this  way  we  learned  that  certain  wooden  racks  which 
hung  from  the  roof  were  for  drying  clothes  on,  that  the 
substance  cooking  in  the  pots  was  seal's-flesh,  and  so  on. 
Then  they  showed  us  various  things  which  they  were 
evidently  very  proud  of.  Some  old  women  opened  a  bag, 
for  instance,  and  brought  out  a  little  bit  of  Dutch  screw- 
tobacco,  while  a  man  displayed  a  knife  with  a  long  bone- 
handle.  These  two  things  were,  no  doubt,  the  most 
notable  possessions  in  the  tent,  for  they  were  regarded  by 
all  the  company  with  especial  veneration.  Then  they 
began  to  explain  to  us  the  mutual  relations  of  the  various 
occupants  of  the  tent.  A  man  embraced  a  fat  woman, 
and  thereupon  the  pair  with  extreme  complacency  pointed 
to  some  younger  individuals,  the  whole  pantomime  giving 
us  to  understand  that  the  party  together  formed  a  family 
of  husband,  wife,  and  children.  The  man  then  proceeded 
to  stroke  his  wife  down  the  back  and  pinch  her  here  and 
there  to  show  us  how  charming  and  delightful  she  was, 
and  how  fond  he  was  of  her,  the  process  giving  her,  at 
the  same  time,  evident  satisfaction. 

Curiously  enough,  none  of  the  men  in  this  particular 
tent  seemed  to  have  more  than  one  wife,  though  it  is  a 
common  thing  among  the  east  coast  Eskimos  for  a  man  to 
keep  two  if  he  can  afford  them,  though  never  more  than 
two.  As  a  rule  the  men  are  good  to  their  wives,  and  a 
couple  may  even  be  seen  to  kiss  each  other  at  times, 
though  the  process  is  not  carried  out  on  European  lines, 
but  by  a  mutual  rubbing  of  noses.     Domestic  strife  is, 


AN  ESKIMO  ENCAMPMENT  93 

however,  not  unknown,  and  it  sometimes  leads  to  violent 
scenes,  the  end  of  which  generally  is  that  the  woman 
receives  either  a  vigorous  castigation  or  the  blade  of  a 
knife  in  her  arm  or  leg,  after  which  the  relation  between 
the  two  becomes  as  cordial  as  ever,  especially  if  the 
woman  has  children. 

In  our  tent  the  best  of  understandings  seem  to  prevail 
among  the  many  occupants.  Toward  us  they  were 
especially  friendly,  and  talked  incessantly,  though  it  had 
long  been  quite  clear  to  them  that  all  their  efforts  in  this 
direction  were  absolutely  thrown  aw'ay.  One  of  the 
elders  of  the  party,  who  was  evidently  a  prominent  {per- 
sonage among  them,  and  probably  an  "  angekok "  or 
magician,  an  old  fellow  with  a  wily,  cunning  expression, 
and  a  more  dignified  air  than  the  rest,  managed  to  explain 
to  us  with  a  great  deal  of  trouble  that  some  of  them  had 
come  from  the  north  and  were  going  south,  while  others 
had  come  from  the  south  and  were  bound  north ;  that  the 
two  parties  had  met  here  by  accident,  that  we  had  joined 
them,  and  that  altogether  they  did  not  know  when  they 
had  had  such  a  good  time  before.  Then  he  wanted  to 
know  where  we  had  come  from,  but  this  was  not  so  easily 
managed.  We  pointed  out  to  sea,  and  as  well  as  we 
could  tried  to  make  them  understand  that  we  had  forced 
our  way  through  the  ice,  had  reached  land  farther  south, 
and  then  worked  up  northward.  This  information  made 
our  audience  look  very  doubtful  indeed,  and  another 
chorus  of  lowing  followed,  the  conclusion  evidently  being 
that  there  was  something  supernatural  about  us.  In  this 
way  the  conversation  went  on,  and.  all  things  considered, 
we  were  thoroughly  well  entertained,  though  to  an  out- 
side observer  our  j^antomimic  efforts  would,  of  course, 
have  seemed  extrcmclv  comical. 


94  JV.-1XS£.V  IN  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

I  will  not  be  rash  enough  to  assert  that  all  the  faces 
that  surrounded  us  were  indisputably  clean.  Most  of  them 
were,  no  doubt,  naturally  of  a  yellowish  or  brownish  hue, 
but  how  much  of  the  color  that  we  saw  in  these  very 
swarthy  countenances  was  really  genuine  we  had  no  means 
of  deciding.  In  some  cases,  and  especially  among  the  chil- 
dren, the  dirt  had  accumulated  to  such  an  extent  that  it 
was  already  passing  into  the  stage  of  a  hard  black  crust, 
which  here  and  there  had  begun  to  break  away  and  to 
show  the  true  skin  beneath.  Every  face,  too,  with  few 
exceptions,  simply  glistened  with  blubber.  Among  the 
women,  especially  the  younger  section,  who  here  as  in 
some  other  parts  of  the  world  are  incontinently  vain,  wash- 
ing is  said  to  be  not  uncommon,  and  Holm  even  accuses 
them  of  being  very  clean.  But  as  to  the  exact  nature  of 
the  process  which  leads  to  this  result  it  will  perhaps  be 
better  for  me  to  say  no  more. 

It  might  be  supposed  that  the  surroundings  and  habits 
of  these  people,  to  which  I  have  already  referred,  together 
with  many  other  practices,  which  I  have  thought  it  better 
not  to  specify,  would  have  an  extremely  repellent  effect 
upon  the  stranger.  But  this  is  by  no  means  the  case 
when  one  has  once  overcome  the  first  shock  which  the 
eccentricity  of  their  ways  is  sure  to  cause,  w'hen  one  has 
ceased  to  notice  such  things  as  the  irrepressible  tendency 
of  their  hands  to  plunge  into  the  jungle  of  their  hair  in 
hot  pursuit,  as  their  dirt-encrusted  faces  —  a  point  on 
wdiich,  I  may  remark,  we  ourselves  in  our  then  condition 
had  little  right  to  speak  —  and  as  the  strange  atmosphere 
in  which  they  live  ;  and  if  one  is  careful  at  first  not  to  look 
too  closely  into  their  methods  of  preparing  food,  the  gen- 
eral impression  received  is  absolutely  attractive.     There 


AN  ESKIMO  ENCAMPMENT  95 

is  a  frank  and  homcl}-  j^cniality  in  all  their  actions  wliich 
is  very  winning,  and  can  only  niakc  the  stranger  feel  thor- 
oughly comfortable  in  their  society. 

People's  notions  on  the  subject  of  good  looks  vary  so 
much  that  it  is  difificult  to  come  to  a  satisfactory  determi- 
nation with  regard  to  these  Eskimos.  If  we  bind  oursehes 
down  to  any  established  ideal  of  beauty,  such  as,  for  in- 
stance, the  Venus  of  Milo,  the  question  is  soon  settled. 
The  east  coast  of  Greenland,  it  must  be  confessed,  is  not 
rich  in  types  of  this  kind.  But  if  we  can  only  make  an 
effort  and  free  our  critical  faculty  from  a  standard  which 
has  been  forced  upon  it  by  the  influences  of  superstition 
and  heredity,  and  can  only  agree  to  allow  that  the  thing 
which  attracts  us,  and  on  which  we  look  with  delight,  for 
these  very  reasons  possesses  the  quality  of  beauty,  then 
the  problem  becomes  very  much  more  difficult  of  solution. 
I  have  no  doubt  that,  were  one  to  live  with  these  people  for 
a  while  and  grow  accustomed  to  them,  one  would  soon 
find  many  a  pretty  face  and  man}-  an  attractive  feature 
among  them. 

As  it  was,  indeed,  we  saw  more  than  one  face  which  a 
European  taste  would  allow  to  be  pretty.  There  was  one 
woman  especially  who  reminded  me  vividly  of  an  acknow- 
ledged beauty  at  home  in  Norway;  and  not  only  I,  but 
one  of  my  companions  who  happened  to  know  the  proto- 
type, was  greatly  struck  by  the  likeness.  The  faces  of 
these  Eskimos  arc  as  a  rule  round,  with  broad,  outstandirg 
jaws,  and  are,  in  the  case  of  the  women  especially,  very 
fat,  the  cheeks  being  particularly  exuberant.  The  eyes 
are  dark  and  often  set  a  little  obliquely,  while  the  nose  is 
flat,  narrow  above,  and  broad  below.  The  whole  face  often 
looks  as   if  it   had   been   compressed   from   the  front   and 


96  NA.VSEy  IX  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

forced  to  make  its  growth  from  the  sides.  Among  the 
women,  and  more  especially  the  children,  the  face  is  so  flat 
that  one  could  almost  lay  a  ruler  across  from  cheek  to 
cheek  without  touching  the  nose ;  indeed,  now  and  again 
one  will  see  a  child  whose  nose  really  forms  a  depression 
in  the  face  rather  than  the  reverse.  It  will  be  understood 
from  this  that  many  of  these  people  show  no  signs  of  ap- 
proaching the  European  standard  of  good  looks,  but  it  is 
not  exactly  in  this  direction  that  the  Eskimo's  attractions, 
generally  speaking,  really  lie.  At  the  same  time  there  is 
something  kindly,  genial,  and  complacent  in  his  stubby, 
dumpy,  oily  features  which  is  quite  irresistible. 

Their  hands  and  feet  alike  are  unusually  small  and  well- 
shaped.  Their  hair  is  absolutely  black,  and  quite  straight, 
resembling:  horse-hair.  The  men  often  tie  it  back  from 
the  forehead  with  a  string  of  beads  and  leave  it  to  fall 
down  over  the  shoulders.  Some  who  have  no  such  band 
have  it  cut  above  the  forehead  or  round  the  whole  head 
with  the  jawbone  of  a  shark,  as  their  superstitions  will  not 
allow  them  on  any  account  to  let  iron  come  into  contact 
with  it,  even  when  the  doubtful  course  of  having  it  cut  at 
all  has  been  resolved  upon.  But,  curiously  enough,  a  man 
who  has  begun  to  cut  his  hair  in  his  youth  must  necessa- 
rily continue  the  practice  all  his  life.  The  women  gather 
their  hair  up  from  behind  and  tie  it  with  a  strip  of  seal- 
skin into  a  cone,  which  must  stand  as  perpendicularly  as 
possible.  This  convention  is,  of  course,  especially  strin- 
gent in  the  case  of  the  young  unmarried  women,  who,  to 
obtain  the  desired  result,  tie  their  hair  back  from  the  fore- 
head and  temples  so  tightly  that  by  degrees  it  gradually 
gives  way,  and  they  become  bald  at  a  very  early  age.  A 
head   which   has  felt   the  effects  of  this  treatment  is  no 


Ay  ESKIMO  ENCAMPMENT 


97 


attractive  sight,  but  tlic  victim  in  such  cases  has  generally 
been  a  long  time  married  and  settled  in  life,  and  the  dis- 
advantage is  therefore  not  so  keenly  felt. 

After  we  liad  been  sitting  in  the  tent  for  a  while,  one  of 


V      > 


ESKIMO    BEAUTY,    FROM    THE    EAST    COAST,    IN    HER    OLD   AGE 
{^By  E.  Nielsen,  from  a  f>ltotograph  taken  by  tite  Danish  "  Konebaad"  expedition') 

the  elders  of  the  company,  the  old  man  with  the  unat- 
tractive expression,  of  whom  I  have  already  spoken,  rose 
and  went  out.  I'resently  he  came  in  again  with  a  long  line 
of  seal-skin,  which,  as  he  sat  on  the  bench,  lu'  began  to  un- 
roll. I  regarded  this  performance  with  some  wonder,  as  I 
could  not  imagine  what  was  going  to  happ.en.  'I  hen  he 
brought  out  a  knife,  cut  off  a  long  piece,  and.  rising,  gave 
it  to  one  of  us.  Then  he  cut  off  another  piece  of  equal 
7 


98 


X.LVSEX  /X   THE   FROZEX   WORLD 


lcni;th  and  gave  it  to  anotlier,  and  ihc  i)r(jcess  was  re- 
peated till  we  all  six  were  alike  provided.  When  he  had 
finished  his  distribution  he  smiled  and  beamed  at  us,  in 
his  abundant  satisfaetion  with  himself  and  the  wnild  at 
large.  Then  another  of  them  went  out, 
came  back  with  a  similar  line,  and  dis- 
tributed it  in  like  manner;  whereupon 
a  third  followed  his  example,  and  so 
the  game  was  kept  going  till  we  were 
each  of  us  provided  with  four  or  fi\'e 
pieces  of  seal-skin  line.  Poor  things  ! 
they  gave  us  what  they  could,  and  what 
they  thought  would  be  useful  to  us. 
It  was  the  kind  of  line  they  use,  when 
seal-catching,  to  connect  the  point  of 
the  harpoon  to  the  bladder  which  pre- 
vents the  seal  from  escaping,  and  it 
ESKIMO  liov,  FROM  THE     j^  astonishiuorly  strouor. 

CAMP   AT    FORT   BILLE  c>   7  O 

After  this  exhibition  of  liberality  we 
sat  for  a  time  looking  at  one  another,  and  I  expected  that 
our  hosts  would  show  by  signs  their  desire  for  something 
in  return.  After  a  while,  too,  the  old  man  did  get  up  and 
produce  something  which  he  evidently  kept  as  a  possession 
of  great  price  and  rarity.  It  was  nothing  else  than  a  clumsy, 
rusty  old  rifle,  with  the  strangest  contrivance  in  the  way  of 
a  hammer  that  it  has  ever  been  my  good  luck  to  see.  It 
consisted  of  a  huge,  unwieldy  piece  of  iron,  in  which 
there  was  a  finger-hole  to  enable  the  user  to  cock  it.  As 
I  afterwards  found,  this  is  the  ordinary  form  of  rifle  on 
the  west  coast  of  Greenland,  and  it  is  specially  constructed 
for  u.se  in  the  "  kaiak."  After  the  old  man  had  .shown  us 
this  curiosity,  and  we  had  duly  displayed  our  admiration, 


.-IjV  ESk'/.]/0    l:\CAMrMENT  99 

he  niiidc  us  uiulcr.staiul  1)\'  soinc  vci')'  iiiiiiii>l;ikciljlc  <res- 
turcs  that  he  had  nothini;"  to  put  in  il.  At  hrst  1  j)re- 
tcnded  not  to  !-;ras])  his  incaniuL;,  hut,  this  insincerity 
lieini;  of  no  avail,  I  was  ubhged  to  make  it  plain  to  him 
that  \vc  had  nothing  to  give  him  in  the  way  of  ammuni- 
tion. This  intimation  he  rcccixcd  w  ith  a  very  disapjiointcd 
and  dejected  air,  and  he  went  at  once  and  put  his  rilie 
away. 

None  of  the  others  showed  by  the  slightest  token  that 
they  expected  an)-thing  in  return  for  their  j^resents.  They 
were  all  friendliness  and  hosjjitality,  though  no  doubt 
there  was  a  notion  lurking  somewhere  in  the  background 
that  their  liberality  would  not  j^rove  un}Droductive,  and,  of 
course,  we  did  not  fail  to  fulfil  our  share  of  the  transac- 
tion next  day.  The  hospitality,  indeed,  of  this  desolate 
coast  is  quite  unbounded.  A  man  will  receive  his  worst 
enemy,  treat  him  well,  and  entertain  him  for  months,  if 
circumstances  throw  him  in  his  way.  The  nature  of  their 
surroundings  and  the  wandering  life  which  they  lead  have 
forced  them  to  offer  and  accept  universal  hospitality,  and 
the  habit  has  gradually  become  a  law  among  them. 

After  we  considered  we  had  been  long  enough  in  the 
tent  we  went  out  into  the  fresh  air  again,  and  chose  as  our 
camping-ground  for  the  night  a  flat  ledge  of  rock  close  to 
the  landing-place.  We  then  began  to  bring  our  things 
ashore,  but  at  once  a  crowd  of  natives  rushed  for  our 
boats,  and  were  soon  busv  moving  <.m\x  boxes  and  bags 
up  .)n  to  the  rocks,  lixery  object  caused  an  admiring 
outburst,  and  our  willing  hel])ers  laughed  and  shouted  in 
their  glee,  and  altogether  enjoNed  themselves  amazingly. 
The  delight  and  admiration  that  giveted  the  big  tin  boxes 
in  which   much   of  our  j)rovender  was   packed   were   espe- 


loo  2y.LVS£iV  IX  THE   FROZEX  WORLD 

cially  unmanageable,  and  the  tins  were  each  passed  round 
from  hand  to  hand,  and  every  edge  and  corner  carefully 
and  minutely  examined. 

As  soon  as  the  boats  were  empty  we  proposed  to  drag 
them  up,  but  here  again  all  insisted  on  giving  their  help. 
The  painter  was  brought  ashore,  manned  by  a  long  line 
stretching  far  up  the  rocks,  and  the  boats  hauled  up  each 
by  the  united  efforts  of  twenty  or  thirty  men.  This  was 
splendid  sport,  and  when  one  of  us  started  the  usual 
sailors  chorus  to  get  them  to  work  together,  the  enthusi- 
asm reached  its  height. 

They  joined  in,  grown  folk  and  children  alike,  and 
laughed  till  they  could  scarcely  pull.  They  plainly 
thought  us  the  most  amusing  lot  of  people  they  had  ever 
seen.  When  the  boats  were  safe  ashore  we  proceeded  to 
pitch  our  tent,  an  operation  which  engaged  all  their  atten- 
tion, for  nothing  can  interest  an  Eskimo  so  much  as  any 
performance  which  belongs  to  his  own  mode  of  life,  such 
as  the  manat^ement  of  tents  and  boats  and  such  thinsfs. 
Here  their  astonishment  does  not  overcome  them,  for 
they  can  fully  understand  what  is  going  on.  In  this 
case  they  could  thus  admire  to  the  full  the  speedy  way 
in  which  we  managed  to  pitch  our  little  tent,  which  was 
so  mucli  simpler  a  contrivance  than  their  great  compli- 
cated wigwams,  though  at  the  same  time  it  was  not  so 
warm. 

Our  clothes,  too,  and,  above  all,  the  Lapps'  dress,  came 
in  for  their  share  of  admiration.  The  tall,  square  caps, 
with  their  four  horns,  and  the  tunics  with  their  long,  wide 
skirts  and  edging  of  red  and  yellow,  struck  them  as  most 
remarkable,  but  still  more  astonished  were  they,  of  course, 
in  the  evening,  when  the  two   Lapps  made  their  appear- 


AN  ESKIMO  ENCAMPMENT  loi 

ance  in  their  rciiulccr-skin  pelisses.  All  must  needs  n-o 
and  feel  them  and  examine  them,  and  stroke  tlie  haii"  of 
this  wonderful  skin,  iiothini;-  like  which  they  had  e\'er 
seen  before.  It  was  not  seal-skin,  it  was  not  bear-skin, 
nor  was  it  fox-skin.  "  Could  it  be  dog-skin }  "  they 
asked,  pointing  to  their  canine  companions.  When  we 
explained  that  it  was  nothing  of  that  kind  they  could  get 
no  further,  for  their  powers  of  imagination   had   reached 


KSKIMOS,    FROM    THE   CAMP   AT   CAI'E    BILLE 
(From  a /i/iotograAh) 


their  limit.  Balto  now  began  to  gibber  and  make  some 
very  significant  movements  with  his  hands  about  his 
head,  with  the  idea  of  representing  reindeer  horns,  but 
this  awoke  no  response.  Evidently  they  had  never  seen 
reindeer,  which  do  not  occur  on  that  part  of  the  east 
coast  which  they  frec{uent. 


I02  ^u^'S£^'  av  the  frozen  world 

Then  we  distributed  the  evening  rations,  and  ate  our 
supper  sitting  at  the  tent-door,  and  surrounded  by  specta- 
tors. Men,  women,  and  cliildren  stood  there  in  a  ring 
many  ranks  deep,  closely  watching  the  passage  of  every 
morsel  of  biscuit  to  our  lips  and  its  subsequent  consump- 
tion. Though  their  mouths  watered  to  overflowing  at 
the  sight  of  these  luxuries,  we  were  constrained  to  take 
no  notice.  W^e  had  no  more  in  the  way  of  bread  than  we 
actually  needed,  and,  had  we  made  a  distribution  through- 
out all  this  hungry  crowd,  our  store  would  ha\e  been 
much  reduced.  But  to  sit  there  and  devour  one's  biscuits 
under  the  fire  of  all  their  eyes  was  not  pleasant. 

Our  meal  over,  we  went  and  had  a  look  round  the 
encampment.  Down  by  the  water  were  a  number  of 
"  kaiaks  "  and  a  few  specimens  of  the  "  umiak  "  or  large 
skin-boat,  which  especially  interested  me.  One  of  the 
men  was  particularly  anxious  to  show  me  everything. 
Whatever  caught  my  eye,  he  at  once  proceeded  to  ex- 
plain the  use  of  by  signs  and  gestures.  Above  all,  he 
insisted  on  my  examining  his  own  "  kaiak,"  which  was 
handsomely  ornamented  with  bone,  and  all  his  weapons, 
which  were  in  excellent  condition  and  profusely  deco- 
rated. His  great  pride  was  his  harpoon,  which,  as  he 
showed  me  triumphantly,  had  a  long  point  of  narwhal 
tusk.  He  explained  to  me,  too,  very  clearly  the  use  of 
the  throwing-stick,  and  how  much  additional  force  could 
be  giv^en  to  the  harpoon  b\-  its  help.  Every  Eskimo  is 
especially  proud  of  his  \\ea]X)ns  and  "  kaiak,"  and  expends 
a  large  amount  of  work  on  their  adornment. 

By  this  time  the  sun  had  set  and  the  night  fallen,  and 
consequently  the  elements  of  weirdness  and  unreality 
which  had  all  the  time  pervaded  this  scene,  with  its  sur- 


^.V  ESKIMO    ENCAMPMENT  103 

roiindiiiL^s  of  snow  and  ice  and  cui'ious  hunian  adjuncts, 
were  now  still  more  ])rcdoniinant  and  strikini;'.  Hark 
forms  flitted  backward  and  forward  among  the  rocks, 
and  the  outlines  of  the  women  with  tlieir  JDabies  on  tlu'ir 
backs  were  especially  pictures(.|ue.  I'rom  every  tent-door 
thrt)Uoli  tlie  transparent  curtain  shone  a  red  glow  of  light, 
which  with  its  suggestions  of  warmth  and  comfort  led  the 
fancy  to  \'ery  different  scenes.  The  resemblance  to 
colored  lamps  and  Chinese  lanterns  brought  to  one's 
mind  the  illuniinated  gardens  and  summer  festivities 
away  at  home,  but  behind  these  curtains  there  li\ed  a 
happy  and  contented  race,  quite  as  happy,  perhaps,  as 
any  to  which  our  tlK)ughts  turned  across  the  sea. 

Then  bed-time  drew  near,  and  the  rest  we  sorely 
needed  after  the  scanty  sleep  of  the  last  few  days.  So 
we  spread  our  sleeping-bags  upon  the  tent-floor  and  be- 
gan the  usual  preparations.  But  here  again  our  move- 
ments aroused  the  keenest  interest,  and  a  deep  ring  of 
onlookers  soon  gathered  round  the  door.  The  removal 
of  our  garments  was  watched  with  attention  b)'  men  and 
women  alike,  and  with  no  sign  of  embarrassment,  except 
on  our  part.  Our  disappearance  one  by  one  into  the 
bags  caused  the  most  amusement,  and  when  at  last  the 
expedition  had  no  more  to  show  than  six  heads,  the  door 
of  the  tent  was  drawn  to  and  the  final  "  (iood-night  " 
said. 

That  night  we  could  sleep  free  from  care  and  without 
keeping  watch,  and  it  was  a  good  niglit's  rest  we  had,  in 
spite  of  barking  dogs  and  other  disturbances.  It  was  late 
when  we  woke  and  heard  the  I'^skimos  mo\ing  busily 
about  outside.  Peeping  through  the  chinks  of  tlie  door, 
we  could  see  them    impatiently  ])acing  \\\)  and   down,  and 


I04  A'AA'S£X  IN  THE   FROZEN  WORLD 

waiting  for  the  tent  to  be  thrown  open  again  that  they 
mio-ht  once  more  feast  their  eves  on  all  the  marxels  hid- 
den  inside.  We  noticed  to-day,  and  we  supposed  it  was 
in  our  honor,  that  they  were  all  arrayed  in  their  best 
clothes.  Their  clean  white  frocks,  made  of  the  same  thin 
membraneous  skin  as  the  tent  curtains,  shone  as  brilliantly 
as  clean  linen  in  the  distance,  as  their  wearers  walked  up 
and  down  and  admired  their  own  magnificence.  Down 
by  our  boats,  too,  we  saw  a  wliole  congregation,  some 
sitting  inside  and  others  standing  around.  Every  imple- 
ment and  every  fitting  was  handled  and  carefully  scru- 
tinized, but  nothing  disturbed  or  injured. 

Then  came  the  opening  of  the  door,  and  forthwith  a 
closely  packed  ring  of  spectators  gathered  around,  head 
appearing  above  head,  and  row  behind  row,  to  see  us 
lying  in  our  bags,  our  exit  thence,  and  gradual  reinstate- 
ment in  our  clothes.  Of  all  our  apparel,  that  which 
excited  most  wonder  and  astonishment  was  a  colored  belt 
of  Christiansen's,  a  belt  resplendent  with  beads  and  huge 
brass  buckle.  This  must  needs  be  handled  and  examined 
by  each  and  all  in  turn,  and  of  course  produced  the  usual 
concerted  bellow.  Then  our  breakfast  of  biscuits  and 
water  was  consumed  in  the  same  silence  and  amid  the 
same  breathless  interest  as  our  supper  of  the  night 
before. 

After  breakfast  we  walked  about  the  place,  for  we  had 
determined  to  enjoy  life  for  this  one  morning  and  see 
what  we  could  of  these  people  before  we  left  them.  I 
had  tried,  unnoticed,  to  take  a  photograph  of  the  ring 
which  thronged  our  tent-door,  but  as  I  brought  the 
camera  to  bear  upon  the  crowd  some  of  them  saw  my 
manoeuvre,  and   a  stampede   began,   as   if   they  feared   a 


^iV  ESKIMO  EXCAMPMEXr 


105 


discharge  of  missiles  or  otlier  sorcery  from  llie  apparatus, 
I  now  tried  to  catch  a  group  who  were  sitting  on  the 
rocks,  but  again  w  itli  the  same  result.  So  the  oidy  expe- 
dient was  to   turn  my  face  away,  and   by  ])retending   to  ])e 


';w#^m  '1      '  •    ■'■■■■ 


y^ 


"OUTSIDE   ONE    LITTLE   TENT   I    FOUND   AN    UNUSUALLY    SO(  lAliLE    WOMAN 
{By  E.  Nie/sen,  frovt  a  photograph) 

otherwise  engaged  to  distract  the  attention  of  my  victims 
and  meanwhile  secure  some  pictures. 

Then  I  took  a  tour  round  the  camping-ground  with  my 
camera.  Outside  one  little  tent,  which  stood  somewhat 
isolated,  I  found  an  unusual])-  sociable  woman,  ajjparently 
the  mistress  of  the  establishment.  She  was  relatively 
young,  of  an  attractive  appearance  altogether,  with  a  smil- 
ing face  and  a  pair  of  soft,  obliquely  set  eyes,  which  she 
made  use  of  in  a  particularly  arch  and  engaging  way. 
Her  dress  was  certainly  not  elegant,  Init  this  defect  was, 
no  doubt,   due   to   her   established    position    as   a   married 


io6  NANSEN  IN  THE  EROZEN    WORLD 

woman,  and  must  not  be  judged  too  harslily.  \\\  her 
'•  amaut,"  a  garment  which  forms  a  kind  of  hood  or  bag 
behind,  she  had  a  swartliy  baby,  which  she  seemed  \ery 
fond  of,  and  whicli,  Hke  many  of  the  mothers,  she  did  her 
best  to  induce  to  open  its  black  eyes  and  contemplate  my 
insignificance.  This  was  partly,  no  doubt,  the  flattery  of 
the  coquette  ;  on  the  whole  we  got  on  ver)-  well  together, 
and  unperceived  I  secured  several  photographs.  Then 
the  master  came  out  of  the  tent,  and  showed  no  sign  of 
surprise  at  finding  his  wife  in  so  close  converse  with  a 
stranger.  He  had  evidently  been  asleep,  for  he  could 
hardly  keep  his  eyes  open  in  the  light,  and  had  to  resort 
to  a  shade,  or  rather  some  big  snow-spectacles  of  wood. 
He  was  a  strongly-built  man,  with  an  honest,  straightfor-  . 
ward  look,  was  very  friendly,  and  showed  me  a  number  of 
his  things.  He  was  especially  proud  of  his  "  kaiak  "  hat, 
which  he  insisted  on  my  putting  on  my  head,  while  he 
meantime  unceremoniously  arrayed  himself  in  my  cajj. 
This  performance  was  little  to  my  taste,  as  it  was  quite 
uncertain  what  would  be  the  result  of  the  exchange  to  me. 
Then  he  took  me  to  see  his  big  boat  or  "  umiak,"  as  well 
as  other  of  his  possessions,  and  we  parted. 

I  went  on,  and  looked  into  some  other  tents.  In  one 
of  them  I  found  two  girls  who  had  just  taken  a  big  gull 
out  of  a  cooking-pot,  and  were  beginning  to  devour  it, 
each  at  work  with  her  teeth  on  one  end  of  the  body,  and 
both  beaming  with  delight  and  self-satisfaction.  The  bird 
still  had  most  of  its  feathers  on,  but  that  did  not  seem  to 
trouble  them  much.  Perhaps,  after  the  manner  of  the 
owl,  they  subsequently  ejected  them. 

Some  of  the  women  had  noticed  that  the  Lapps  used 
the  peculiar  grass  known  as  "  sennegrses,"  which  the  Eski- 


-LV  ESKIMO   ENCAMPMENT 


107 


mos  also  use,  in  their  boots,  and  thc\'  now  Ijrought  each 
of  us  a  huge  supply  of  the  comniochtw  smiling  most  co- 
qucttishl)'  as  thc\-  made  their  offering.  We  expressed 
our  thanks,  of  course,  by  an  equalh'  lavish  di.splay  of 
smiles.  Then  they  began  to  inquire,  by  means  of  signs, 
whether  we  had  no  needles  to  give  them  in  return.  I 
could  have  gratified  them,  certainly,  since  I  had  brought 
a  number  of  these  articles  of  barter,  which  are  much 
prized  on  the  east  coast.  But  my 
real  object  was  to  keep  them  in 
case  we  had  to  spend  the  winter  in 
these  parts,  in  which  case  they  would 
have  proved  invaluable.  So  I  told 
them  that  we  could  not  let  them 
have  anv  needles  in  exchange  for 
their  grass,  and  gave  them  instead 
a  tin  which  had  had  preserved  meat 
in.  This  made  them  simply  wild 
with  delight,  and  with  sparkling 
eyes  they  went  off  to  show  tlie 
others  their  new  ac(|uisiti()n.  Tlie 
grass  came  in  very  hand}'  for  the 
two  Lapps,  whose  store  was  run- 
ning short,  and  without  this  grass 
in  his  shoes  a  Lap})  is  never  thor- 
oughly comfortable.  'Ihey  had  a 
deal  to  say,  too,  about  this  h'.skimo 
"  sennegraes."  The  fact  that  these  people  had  sense 
enough  to  use  the  grass  impressed  Ravna  and  Halto  to  a 
certain  extent,  but  they  declared  it  had  been  gathered  at 
the  wrong  time  of  year,  being  winter  grass  taken  with 
the   frost   on   it,  instead  of   being  v\\\  fie>h  and   then  tlried. 


TIIKN     THK     MASTKR     CAME 
(JUT   OK   THK   TKNT  " 

(From  a photognif'h'S 


loS  NANSEN  AV  THE  FROZEX  WORLD 

in  accordance  witli  tlic  practice  of  rational  beings.  It 
was  of  little  use  to  i)oint  out  to  them  that  it  was  not  the 
habit  of  tlie  b:skimo  to  lay  up  greater  stores  of  such 
things  than  he  actually  needed  to  keep  him  going. 

Ikit  the  time  of  our  departure  drew  near,  and  we  began 
by  degrees  to  make  our  preparations.  A  nian  now  came 
up  to  us  and  asked  whether  we  were  going  northward. 
At  our  answer  in  the  affirmative  his  face  brightened 
amazingly,  and  it  proved  that  he  was  bound  in  the  same 
direction  with  his  party,  to  whom  he  went  at  once  and 
announced  the  news.  The  camp  was  now  a  scene  of 
lively  confusion,  and,  while  we  and  the  Eskimos  vied  with 
one  another  in  our  haste  to  strike  our  tents,  launch  our 
boats,  and  stow  our  goods,  the  dogs,  who  well  knew  what 
was  in  progress,  expended  their  energy  in  a  howling  com- 
petition. 

As  the  tent  we  had  spent  the  preceding  evening  in  was 
going  southward,  it  was  necessary  that  we  should  go  and 
make  some  return  for  the  presents  we  had  received.  So 
with  a  number  of  empty  meat-tins  I  went  in  and  found  a 
party  of  half-naked  men  taking  a  meal.  I  gave  them  one 
each,  w^iich  delighted  them  hugely,  and  some  of  them 
at  once  showed  their  intention  of  using  them  as  drinking- 
vessels.  Outside  I  found  the  possessor  of  the  rifie,  who 
again  urged  upon  me  the  fact  that  he  had  no  ammunition 
for  it.  But  when  I  presented  him  with  a  large  tin  instead 
he  expressed  perfect  contentment  and  gratification. 

The  great  skin-tents  were  soon  down  and  packed  away 
in  the  boats.  It  was  indeed  quite  astonishing  to  see  the 
speed  with  which  these  Eskimos  made  ready  for  a  journey 
with  all  their  household  goods  and  worldly  possessions, 
though,  of  course,  there  were  a  great  number  of  helping 


AiY  ESKIMO  ENCAMPMENT  109 

hands.  We  had  almost  finished  our  preparations  too, 
when  a  salt-box  was  pleased  to  discharge  its  contents  in 
the  middle  of  one  of  the  provision-bags.  This  had  to  be 
seen  to  at  once,  and  the  Eskimos  consequently  started 
before  us.  Two  of  the  boats  set  off  on  their  southward 
journey,  and  two  more  presently  disappeared  behind  the 
first  point  of  rock  to  the  north.  The  company  of  "  kai- 
akers,"  however,  were  still  left,  as  they  stayed  behind  to 
bid  each  other  a  more  tender  farewell,  before  they  parted, 
perhaps,  for  a  separation  of  some  years.  This  leave-tak- 
ing gave  rise  to  one  of  the  most  comical  scenes  I  have 
ever  witnessed.  There  \Aere  altogether  a  dozen  or  more 
of  their  little  canoes,  and  they  all  now  ranged  up  side  by 
side,  dressed  as  evenly  as  a  squad  of  soldiers.  This  ex- 
traordinary manoeuvre  roused  my  attention,  of  course,  and 
I  could  not  imagine  what  it  purported.  I  was  not  left 
long  in  ignorance,  however,  for  the  snuff-horns  were  pres- 
ently produced,  and  the  most  extravagant  excesses  fol- 
lowed. Their  horns  were  opened  and  thrust  up  their 
noses  ao-ain  and  again,  till  every  nostril  must  have  been 
absolutelv  filled  with  snuff.  Several  horns  were  in  circu- 
lation, and  each  came  at  least  twice  to  every  man,  so  that 
the  quantity  consumed  may  well  be  imagined.  I  wanted 
to  photograph  them,  but  lost  time  and  could  not  bring 
my  camera  to  bear  upon  them  before  the  line  was  broken, 
and  some  of  the  canoes  already  speeding  away  southward 
among  the  floes. 

This  genera]  treating  with  snuff  is  the  mode  in  which 
the  Eskimos  take  leave  of  one  another,  and  is  a  very 
similar  performance  to  the  ceremonious  dram-drinking 
among  our  peasants  at  home.  In  this  ]Darticular  case 
only  those  who  had  come  from  the  south  had  anything  to 


no  XA.VSEiV  AV  T//E  FROZEN  WORLD 

stand  treat  with.  They  were  evidently  fresh  from  the 
Danish  colonies  beyond  Caj^e  Farewell,  as  their  abundant 
supply  of  snuff  i^roved,  while  the  others  were  probably 
bound  south  on  a  similar  errand.  Tliese  pilgrimages 
occur  unfortunately  too  often,  though  their  emporium  lies 
at  no  trifling  distance  —  a  couple  of  years'  journey,  in 
fact,  for  those  who  live  farthest  up  the  coast. 

One  would  almost  expect  that  so  long  a  journey  would 


"THE    Ll.NE    WAS    KRUKEN,    AND    SOME   OF   THE   CANOES   ALREADY   SI'EEDING 

AWAY    SOUTHWARD   AMONG   THE   FLOES " 

{Front  a  photograplt) 


be  followed  by  a  long  stay  at  tlie  place  of  business.  But 
this  is  not  the  case,  and  the  Eskimo,  in  fact,  s]:)ends  little 
more  time  over  his  jDcriodical  shopping  than  a  lady  of  the 
world  over  a  siiiiilar,  Init  daily,  visit.  In  half  an  hour,  or 
an  hour  perhajxs,  he  has  often  finished,  and  then  disap- 
pears again  on  his  long  journey  home.  A  shopping 
expedition  of  this  kind  will  therefore  often  take  four  years 


A^V  ESKIMO  ENCAMPMENT  1 1 1 

at  least,  and  coiisccjucntly  a  man's  ()|)i)()rtunitics  in  this 
way  in  the  conrsc  ot  a  hfctimc  arc  very  limited.  'I'hcsc 
arc  ({uitc  cnoui^h,  howcxcr,  to  prodncc  a  niiN(  hicxons 
elTcct.  One  is  apt  to  suppose  that  it  is  the  want  of  cer- 
tain uselul  things,  otherwise  unattainable,  that  ureses  them 
to  these  long  journeNs;  but  this  is  scarcely  so,  for  the  real 
incentixe  is  without  doubt  a  cravini;  for  tobacco.  As  a 
mailer  of  fact  the)'  do  buy  some  useful  things,  like  iron, 
which  they  get  chieil)'  in  the  form  of  old  hoops,  but  they 
really  have  a  good  supply  of  such  things  already,  they  do 
not  use  them  much,  and  they  are  not  absolutely  necessary. 
Most  of  their  purchases  are  things  which  are  either  alto- 
gether valueless  or  else  actually  injurious. 

Among  the  latter  must  especially  be  reckoned  tobacco, 
which  is  the  conmiodity  of  all  others  most  desired,  and 
which  tliey  take  in  the  form  of  snuff.  Smoking  and 
chewing  are  unknown  on  this  coast,  but  their  absence  is 
made  up  for  by  all  the  greater  excess  in  snuff-taking,  the 
indulgence  in  which  is  quite  ]:)henomenal.  They  buy 
their  tobacco  in  the  form  of  twist,  and  prepare  it  them- 
selves, by  drying  it  well,  breaking  it  up,  and  grinding  it 
fine  on  stone.  Powdered  calcspar  or  quartz  or  other  rock 
is  often  added  to  the  snuff  to  make  it  go  further,  and  to 
increase,  it  is  said,  the  irritating  effect  upon  the  mucous 
membrane. 

In  addition  to  tobacco  they  buy  other  things  which 
certainly  have  an  injurious  effect  upon  them,  such  as, 
for  instance,  tea.  Coffee,  curiously  enough,  these  jicople 
have  not  learned  to  like,  though  this  drink  is  bliss  celes- 
tial to  the  west-coast  Eskimos. 

It  is  truly  fortunate  that  they  have  no  opportunity  of 
getting  spirits,  as  the  sale  is  absolutely  prohibited   by  the 


112  ^^A.ys£^^  ix  the  frozen  world 

Danish  Government.  Of  other  European  products,  they 
buy  biscuits,  flour,  peas,  which  they  are  particularly  fond 
of,  and  similar  things.  Articles  of  clothing,  too,  are  in 
great  demand,  such  as  tliick  jerseys  from  the  Faroe 
Islands,  cotton  stuffs  for  outer  tunics,  and  material  out  of 
which  they  can  make  hats;  old  European  clothes  are 
highly  valued,  and  they  have  an  idea  that  when  they  can 
dress  themselves  out  in  these  worn-out  rubbishy  garments 
they  cut  a  far  finer  figure  than  when  they  content  them- 
selves with  their  own  warm  and  becoming  dress  of  seal- 
skin. 

In  exchange  for  such  things,  which  are  of  little  value 
to  us  and  of  still  less  real  worth  to  them,  they  give  fine 
large  bear-skins,  fox-skins,  and  seal-skins,  which  they 
ought  to  keep  for  their  own  clothes  and  tlie  other  nu- 
merous purposes  for  wliich  they  can  be  used.  It  is,  of 
course,  unnecessary  to  remark  how  much  better  it  would 
be  if  these  poor  Eskimos,  instead  of  decking  themselves 
out  in  European  rags,  would  keep  their  skins  for  them- 
selves, and  confine  themselves  to  those  regions  where 
they  have  their  homes,  instead  of  straying  to  the  outskirts 
of  European  luxury  and  civilization. 

When  the  Eskimos  have  at  length  consumed  their  pur- 
chases and  must  needs  return  to  the  old  manner  of  life, 
the  net  result  is  that  they  have  lost  a  number  of  useful 
possessions  and  have  acquired  a  feeling  of  want  and  long- 
ing for  a  number  of  unnecessary  things.  This  is,  in  fact, 
the  usual  way  that  the  blessings  of  civilization  first  make 
themselves  felt  upon  the  uncivilized. 


CHAPTER    VII  ' 

THE    CROSSING    OF    THE     INLAND    ICE THE     FIRST    SIOIIT 

OF    LAND    AND    FIRST    DRINK    OF    WATER 

As  tlic  middle  of  September  approached,  we  hoped 
every  day  to  arrive  at  the  beginning  of  tlie  western  slope. 
To  judge  from  our  reckoning  it  could  not  be  far  off, 
though  I  had  a  suspicion  that  this  reckoning  was  some 
way  ahead  of  our  observations.  These,  however,  I  pur- 
posely omitted  to  work  out,  as  the  announcement  that  we 
had  not  advanced  as  far  as  we  supposed  would  ha\e  been 
a  bitter  disappointment  to  most  of  the  party.  Their  ex- 
pectations of  soon  getting  the  first  sight  of  land  on  the 
western  side  were  at  their  height,  and  they  pushed  on 
confidently,  while  I  kept  my  doubts  to  myself  and  left 
the  reckoning  as  it  was. 

On  September  1 1  the  fall  of  the  ground  was  just  appre- 
ciable, the  theodolite  showing  it  to  be  about  a  third  of  a 
degree.  On  September  12  I  entered  in  my  diary  that 
"  we  are  all  in  capital  spirits,  and  hope  for  a  speedy 
change  for  the  better,  Balto  and  Dietrichson  being  even 
confident  that  we  shall  see  land  to-day.  The)-  will  need 
some  patience,  however,  as  we  are  still  9,000  feet  above 
the  sea  "  (we  were  really  about  8,250  feet  that  day),  "  but 
they  will  not  have  to  wait  \ery  long.  This  morning  our 
reckoning  made  us  out  to  be  about  seventy-five  miles 
from  bare   land,  and   the   ijround  is  fallinc:  well  and  con- 

^  From  Nansen's  Across  Greenland. 
8 


114  ^\'l^^SJiN  IN   THE   FROZEN  WORLD 

tinuoLisly."  The  next  day  or  two  the  slope  grew  more 
and  more  distinct,  but  the  incHne  was  not  regular,  as  the 
ground  fell  in  great  undulations,  like  those  we  had  had 
to  climb  in  the  course  of  our  ascent. 

On  September  14  the  reckoning  showed  that  it  was 
only  about  thirty-five  miles  to  land.  But  even  now  we 
could  see  nothing,  which  the  Lapps  thought  was  \ery 
suspicious.  Ravna's  face  began  to  get  longer  and  longer, 
and  one  evening  about  this  time  he  said,  "  I  am  an  old 
Lapp,  and  a  silly  old  fool,  too ;  I  don't  believe  we  shall 
ever  get  to  the  coast."  I  only  answered,  "  That 's  quite 
true,  Ravna  ;  you  are  a  silly  old  fool."  Whereupon  he 
burst  out  laughing:  "So  it's  quite  true,  is  it — Ravna  is 
a  silly  old  fool  ?  "  and  he  evidently  felt  quite  consoled  by 
this  doubtful  compliment.  These  expressions  of  anxiety 
on  Ravna's  part  were  very  common. 

Another  day  Balto  suddenly  broke  out:  "But  how  on 
earth  can  any  one  tell  how  far  it  is  from  one  side  to  the 
other,  when  no  one  has  been  across  1  "  It  was,  of  course, 
difficult  to  make  him  understand  the  mode  of  calculation; 
but,  with  his  usual  intelligence,  he  seemed  to  form  some 
idea  of  the  truth  one  day  when  I  showed  him  the  process 
on  the  map.  The  best  consolation  we  could  give  Balto 
and  Ravna  was  to  laugh  at  them  well  for  their  cowardice. 

The  very  pronounced  fall  of  the  ground  on  September 
17  certainly  was  a  comfort  to  us  all,  and  when  the  ther- 
mometer that  evening  just  failed  to  reach  z.ero  we  found 
the  tem])erature  c|uite  mild,  and  felt  that  we  had  entered 
the  abodes  of  summer  again.  It  was  now^  only  nine  miles 
or  so  to  land  by  our  reckoning. 

It  was  this  very  day  two  months  that  we  had  left  the 
Jason.     This  happened  to  be  one  of  our  butter-mornings, 


TJIK    CKOSSIAG    OJ-    J'JU:    JM.IND   ICE  115 

the  very  gladdest  niorniii^s  of  our  existence  al  iIk-  lime, 
and  Ijreaklast  in  bed  with  a  ^ood  cup  of  tea  brou'dil  the 
whole  ])arty  into  an  excellent  humor.  It  was  the  first 
time,  too,  for  a  long  wliile  that  the  walls  of  our  tent  had 
not  been  decorated  \\\\\\  fringes  of  hoar-frost.  y\s  we 
were  at  breakfast  we  were  no  little  astonished  to  hear,  as 
we  thought,  the  twittering  of  a  bird  outside ;  but  the 
sound  soon  stopi)ed,  and  we  were  not  at  all  certain  of  its 
reality.  Hut  as  we  were  starting  again  after  our  one 
o'clock  dinner  that  day  we  suddenly  became  aware  of 
twitterings  in  the  air,  and,  as  we  stopped,  sure  enough 
we  saw  a  snow-bunting  come  flying  after  us.  It  wan- 
dered round  us  two  or  three  times,  and  plainly  showed 
signs  of  a  wish  to  sit  upon  one  of  our  sledges.  But  the 
necessary  audacity  was  not  forthcoming,  and  it  fmallv 
settled  on  the  snow  in  front  for  a  few  moments,  before 
it  flew  away  for  good  with  another  encouraging  little 
twitter. 

Welcome,  indeed,  this  little  bird  was.  It  gave  us  a 
friendly  greeting  from  the  land  we  were  sure  must  now 
be  near.  The  l^elievers  in  good  angels  and  their  tloings 
must  inevitably  have  seen  such  in  the  forms  of  these  two 
snow^-buntings,  the  one  which  bade  us  farewell  on  the 
eastern  side,  and  that  which  offered  us  a  welcome  to  the 
western  coast.  We  blessed  it  for  its  cheering  song,  and 
with  warmer  hearts  and  renewed  strength  we  confidently 
went  on  our  way,  in  spite  of  the  uncomfoi-tahlc  knowledge 
that  the  ground  was  not  falling  b)-  any  means  so  raj^idly 
as  it  should  have  done.  In  this  way,  however,  things 
were  much  better  next  day,  September  iS;  the  cold  con- 
sistently decreased,  and  life  grew  brighter  and  brighter. 
In   the  evening,  too,  tlie  wind  sprang  up  from   the  south- 


ii6  A\-1A^S/£A^  AV  THE   FROZEN  WORLD 

east,  and  I  liopecl  \vc  should  really  get  a  fair  sailing  breeze 
at  last.  We  had  waited  for  it  long  enough,  and  sighed 
for  it,  too,  in  spite  of  Balto's  assurances  that  this  sailing 
on  the  snow  would  never  come  to  anything. 

In  the  course  of  the  night  tlie  wind  freshened,  and  in 
the  morning  there  was  a  full  breeze  blowing.  Though, 
as  usual,  there  was  no  great  keenness  to  undertake  the 
rioo-in'j:  and  lashins:  tofrether  of  the  sledges  in  the  cold 
wind,  we  determined,  of  course,  to  set  about  the  business 
at  once.  Christiansen  joined  Sverdrup  and  me  with  his 
sledge,  and  we  rigged  the  two  with  the  tent-iloor,  while 
the  other  three  put  their  two  sledges  together. 

All  this  work,  especially  the  lashing,  was  anything  but 
delightful,  but  the  cruellest  part  of  it  all  was  that  while 
we  were  in  the  middle  of  it  the  wind  showed  signs  of 
dropping.  It  did  not  carry  out  its  threat,  however,  and  at 
last  both  vessels  were  ready  to  start.  I  was  immensely 
excited  to  see  how  our  boat  would  turn  out,  and  whether 
the  one  sail  was  enous^h  to  move  both  the  sledges.  It 
was  duly  hoisted  and  made  fast,  and  there  followed  a 
violent  wrenchimj;  of  the  whole  machine,  but  durintr  the 
operations  it  had  got  somewhat  buried  in  the  snow  and 
proved  immovable.  There  was  enough  wrenching  and 
straining  of  the  mast  and  tackle  to  pull  the  whole  to 
pieces,  so  we  harnessed  ourselves  in  front  with  all  speed. 
We  tugged  with  a  will  and  got  our  boat  off,  l3ut  no  sooner 
had  she  begun  to  move  than  the  wind  brought  her  right 
on  to  us,  and  over  we  all  went  into  tlie  snow.  We  were 
soon  up  again  for  another  trial,  but  witli  the  same  result ; 
no  sooner  were  we  on  our  legs  than  we  were  carried  off 
them  again  by  the  shock  from  behind. 

This  process  having  been  gone  through  a  certain  num- 


TUK    CA'OSSJA/C;    OP'   THJ'.    LXI.AM)    ICE 


i'7 


bcr  of  times,  wc  saw  plainly  that  all  was  not  ri^^ht.  Su 
wc  arranged  that  one  of  us  should  stand  in  front  on  jiis 
ski  and  steer  1)\-  means  of  a  staff  fixed  between  the  two 
sledges,  like  the  ])()le  of  a  carriage,  leaving  himself  to 
be  })ushed  along  by  his  vessel,  and   onl\-  keeping  it  at  a 


FIRST   ATTEMPTS   AT   SAILING 


respectful  distance  from  his  heels.  Tlie  other  two  mem- 
bers of  the  crew  were  to  come  behind  on  their  ski, 
cither  holding  on  to  the  sledges  or  following  as  best  tliey 
could. 

W^c  now  finally  got  under  way,  and  S\-erdrup,  wlio  was 
to  take  the  first  turn  at  steering,  had  no  sooner  got  the 
pole  under  his  arm  than  our  vessel  rushed  furiously  off 
before  the  wind.  I  attached  myself  l)ehind  at  the  side, 
riding  on  my  ski  and  holding  on  b}'  the  back  of  one  of 
the  sledges  as  well  as  I  could.  Christiansen  thought  this 
looked  like  too  risky  work,  and  came  dragging  along 
behind  on  his  ski  alone. 

Our  ship  flew  over  the  wa\'es  and  drifts  of  snow  with  a 
speed  that  almost  took  one's  breath  away.     The  sledges 


ii8  J^AA'S£.V  AV  THE   FROZEN  JVORLD 

struggled  and  groaned,  and  were  strained  in  every  joint 
as  they  were  whirled  o\er  the  rough  surface,  and  often 
indeed  they  simply  jumped  from  the  crest  of  one  wave  on 
to  another.  1  had  ciuilc  enough  to  do  to  hang  on  behind 
and  keep  myself  upright  on  the  ski.  Then  the  ground 
be^ran  to  fall  at  a  sharper  angle  than  any  we  had  had  yet. 
The  pace  grew  hotter  and  hotter,  and  tlie  sledges  scarcely 
seemed  to  touch  the  snow.  Right  in  front  of  me  was 
sticking  out  the  end  of  a  ski,  which  was  lashed  fast  across 
the  two  sledges  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  them  together. 
I  could  not  do  anything  to  get  this  ski  end  out  of  the 
wav,  and  it  caused  me  a  i^reat  deal  of  trouble,  as  it  stuck 
out  across  the  points  of  my  own  ski,  and  was  always 
cominor  into  collision  with  them.  It  was  worst  of  all  when 
we  ran  along  the  edge  of  a  drift,  for  my  ski  would  then 
get  completely  jammed,  and  I  lost  all  control  over  them. 
For  a  long  time  I  went  on  thus  in  a  continual  struggle 
with  this  hopeless  ski  end,  while  Sverdrup  stood  in  front 
gayly  steering  and  thinking  we  were  both  sitting  comfort- 
ably on  behind.  Our  ship  rushed  on  faster  and  faster; 
the  snow  flew  around  us  and  behind  us  in  a  cloud,  which 
gradually  hid  the  others  from  our  view. 

Then  an  ice-axe  wliich  lay  on  the  top  of  our  cargo 
began  to  get  loose  and  promised  to  fall  off.  So  I  worked 
myself  carefully  forward,  and  was  just  engaged  in  making 
the  axe  fast  when  we  rode  on  to  a  nasty  drift.  This 
brought  the  projecting  ski  end  just  across  my  legs,  and 
there  I  lay  at  once  gazing  after  tlie  ship  and  its  sail, 
wliich  were  flying  on  down  the  slope,  and  already  show- 
ing dimly  through  the  drifting  snow.  It  made  one  quite 
uncomfortable  to  see  how  quickly  they  diminished  in  size. 
I  felt  very  foolish  to  be  left  lying  there,  but  at  last  I  recov- 


THK    CROSSIXG    OF   'J  7//:    /ALAND    ICJ: 


I  19 


crcd  myself  and  set  off  bra\L-l)-  in  the  wake  of  the  \esse1, 
which  was  by  tin's  time  all  but  out  of  si<;ht.  'J"o  my  oreat 
(leliL;ht  1  found  that,  thanks  to  the  wind,  1  could  i;et  on 
at  a  very  decent  pace  alone. 

I  had  not  gone  far  before  I  found  the  ice-axe,  in  trying 
to  secure  which  I  had  come  to  grief.  /\  little  way  farther 
on  I  caught  sight  of  another  dark  object,  tliis  time  some- 
thing sc[uare,  l\iug  in  the  snow.  This  was  a  box  which 
contained  some  of  our  j^recious  meat-chocolate,  and  which 
of  course  was  not  to  be  abandoned  in  this  way.  .After  diis 
I  strode  gayly  on  for  a  long  time  in  the  sledge-track,  with 
the  chocolate-box  under  one  arm  and  the  ice-axe  and  m)- 


"A.M)   there    I    LAY    GAZING   AITKK    THE   SHIP    AND    ITS    SAIl" 


staff  under  the  other.  Then  I  came  upon  several  more 
dark  objects  lying  straight  in  my  path.  These  proved  to 
be  a  fur  jacket  belonging  to  me,  and  no  less  than  three 
pemmican  boxes.  I  had  now  much  iiiore  than  I  couKl 
carry,  so  the  only  thing  to  be  done  was  to  sit  down  and 
wait  for  succor  from  the  others  who  were  following  be- 
hind. All  that  could  now  be  seen  of  our  proud  ship  and 
its  sail  was  a  little  square  patch  far  away  across  the  snow- 
field.       She  was   going    ahead    in    the   same  direction    as 


I20  NANSEN  IN  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

before,  but  as  I  watehed  I  suddenly  saw  her  brought  up 
to  the  wind,  the  tin  boxes  of  her  cargo  gHtter  in  the  sun, 
and  lier  sail  fall.  Just  then  Christiansen  canie  w\)  with  me, 
followed  not  long  after  by  the  other  vessel.  To  them  we 
handed  over  some  of  our  loose  boxes,  but  just  as  we  were 
stowing  them  away  Balto  discovered  that  they  had  lost  no 
less  than  three  pemmican  tins.  These  were  much  too  val- 
uable to  be  left  behind,  so  the  crew  had  to  go  back  and 
look  for  them. 

Meanwhile  Christiansen  and  I  started  off  again,  each 
with  a  tin  box  under  his  arm,  and  soon  overtook  Sverdrup. 
We  now  sat  down  to  w^ait  for  the  others,  which  was  not 
an  agreeable  job  in  this  bitter  wind. 

Sverdrup  told  us  that  he  had  sailed  merrily  off  from  the 
very  start,  had  found  the  whole  thing  go  admiral^ly,  and 
thought  all  the  time  that  we  two  were  sitting  comfortably 
on  behind.  He  could  not  see  behind  him  for  the  sail,  but 
after  a  long  w'hile  he  began  to  wonder  w^hy  there  was  not 
more  noise  among  the  passengers  in  the  stern.  So  he 
made  an  approach  to  a  conversation,  but  got  no  answer. 
A  little  farther  on  he  tried  again  and  louder,  but  with  the 
same  result.  Then  he  called  louder  still,  and  lastly  began 
to  shout  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  but  still  there  was  no 
response.  This  state  of  things  needed  further  investiga- 
tion ;  so  he  brought  his  boat  up  to  the  wind,  went  round 
behind  the  sail  to  see  w^hat  was  the  matter,  and  was  not 
a  little  concerned  to  find  that  both  his  passengers  had 
disappeared.  He  tried  to  look  back  along  his  course 
through  the  drifting  snow,  and  he  thought  he  could  see 
a  black  spot  far  away  behind.  This  must  have  been  my 
insignificant  figure  sitting  upon  the  lost  tin  boxes.  Then 
he    lowered    his  sail,  which  was  not  an   easy   matter  in 


THE    CKOS:SIXG    OF  TIIK    J N J. AN  J)   JCK  121 

the  wind  tliat  was  blowing,  and  contented   liini.sclf  to  wait 
for  us. 

W'c  had  to  sit  a  long-  time  before  tlie  otliers  caught  us 
u})  again.  \Vc  could  just  see  the  vessel  through  the  snow, 
but  her  sail  was  evidently  not  up,  and  of  her  crew  there 
was  not  a  sign.  At  last  we  caught  sight  of  three  small 
specks  far  away  up  the  slope  and  the  glitter  of  the  sun 


^■J 


SAILING   ON    THE  INLAND    ICE 


on  the  tins  they  were   carrying.     Presently  the  sail  was 
hoisted,  and  it  was  not  long  before  they  joined  us. 

We  now  lashed  the  sledges  better  together  and  made 
the  cargo  thoroughly  fast,  in  order  to  escape  a  repetition 
of  this  ])crformance.  Then  we  rigged  up  some  rojocs  be- 
hind, to  which  the  crew  could  hold  or  tie  themselves,  and 
thus  be  towed  comfortably  along.  In  this  way  we  got  on 
splendidly,  and  never  in  my  life  have  I  had  a  more  glo- 
rious run  on  ski. 


122  NANSEN  AV  THE   FROZEN    WORLD 

A  while  later  SNcrdruj)  declared  that  he  had  had 
enough  of  steering,  and  I  therefore  took  his  place.  We 
had  now  one  good  sloj^e  after  another  and  a  strong  wind 
behind  us.  We  travelled  as  we  should  on  the  best  of 
ski  hills  at  home,  and  this  for  hour  after  hour.  The 
steering  is  exciting  work.  One  has  to  keep  one's  tongue 
straight  in  one's  mouth,  as  we  say  at  home,  and,  whatever 
one  does,  take  care  not  to  fall.  If  one  did,  the  whole 
conveyance  would  be  upon  one,  and  once  under  the  run- 
ners and  driven  along  by  the  impetus,  one  would  fare 
badly  indeed,  and  be  lucky  to  get  off  without  a  complete 
smash-up.  This  was  not  to  be  thought  of,  so  it  was 
necessary  to  keep  one's  w^its  about  one,  to  hold  the  ski 
well  together,  grip  the  pole  tight,  watch  the  ground  in- 
cessantly, so  as  to  steer  clear  of  the  worst  drifts,  and  for 
the  rest  take  thini^^s  as  thev  came,  while  one's  ski  flew  on 
from  the  crest  of  one  snow-wave  to  another. 

Our  meals  were  not  pleasant  intervals  that  day,  and  we 
therefore  got  through  them  as  quickly  as  we  could.  We 
stopped  and  crept  under  shelter  of  the  sails,  which  were 
only  half  lowered  on  purpose.  The  snow  drifted  over  us 
as  we  sat  there,  but  the  wind  at  least  was  not  so  piercing 
as  in  the  open.  We  scarcely  halted  for  the  usual  choco- 
late distributions,  and  took  our  refreshment  as  we  went 
along. 

In  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  —  this  notable  da)- by 
the  way  was  September  19  —  just  as  we  were  sailing  our 
best  and  fastest,  we  heard  a  cry  of  joy  from  the  party  be- 
hind, Balto's  voice  being  })rominent  as  he  shouted  "  Land 
ahead ! " 

And  so  there  was;  through  the  mist  of  snow,  which 
was  just  now  a  little  less  dense,  we  could  see  away  to  the 


THE    CROSSING    OF    TJIE    lAJ.AM)    ICK  123 

west  a  loHL!,-,  dark  mountain  ridge,  and  to  the  south  of  it 
a  smaller  peak.  Rejoieings  were  loud  and  general,  for 
the  goal  toward  whieh  we  had  so  long  struggk-d  was  at 
last  in  sight. 

Balto's  own  account  of  the  occurrence  runs  as  follows  : 
"  While  we  were  sailing  that  afternoon  I  caught  sight  of 
a, black  spot  a  long  way  off  to  the  west.  I  stared  and 
stared  at  it  till  1  saw  that  it  reall\-  was  bare  ground. 
Then  I  called  to  Dietrichson,  '  I  can  see  land!'  I  )ie- 
trichson  at  once  shouted  to  the  others  that  Halto  could 
see  land  away  to  the  west.  And  then  we  rejoiced  to  see 
this  sight,  which  we  had  so  often  longed  to  see,  and  new 
courage  came  into  our  hearts,  and  hope  that  we  should 
now  happily  and  without  disaster  cross  over  this  ice- 
mountain,  which  is  the  greatest  of  all  ice-mountains.  If 
we  had  spent  many  more  days  upon  the  ice,  I  fear  that 
some  of  us  would  have  fared  badly.  As  soon  as  Nansen 
heard  this  he  stopped  and  gave  us  two  pieces  of  meat- 
chocolate  each.  It  was  always  our  custom,  when  we 
reached  a  spot  which  we  had  long  wished  to  reach,  to 
treat  ourselves  to  the  best  food  we  had.  So  when  we 
came  to  land  after  drifting  in  the  ice,  when  we  reached 
Umivik,  when  we  had  climbed  to  the  highest  point  of 
Greenland,  when  we  now  first  saw  land  on  the  west  side. 
and  lastly,  when  we  first  set  foot  upon  bare  ground  again, 
we  were  treated  to  our  very  best  —  which  was  jam, 
American  biscuits,  and  butter." 

Though  this  first  land  we  saw  lay  a  little  to  the  north 
of  the  line  we  had  hitherto  been  following.  I  steered  for 
it  nevertheless,  because  the  ice  in  this  direction  seemed  to 
fall  away  more  rapidly.  However,  the  jioint  was  soon 
hidden   in  the  snow  again,  and  we  went  on  with    the  wind 


124  NAlYSEN  JX   TJIK   l^KOZEX    WORLD 

straifrht  behind  us  for  tlic  rest  of  the  afternoon  without 
getting  any  further  sight  of  land.  Tlie  wind  grew 
stronger  and  stronger,  we  iiew  down  slope  after  slope, 
and  everything  went  famously. 

A  while  later  both  the  gradient  and  the  wind  slackened 
off  for  a  time,  but  as  evening  began  the  breeze  freshened 
and  the  slope  grew  steeper,  and  we  rushed  along  through 
the  dense  driving  snow  more  furiously  than  ever.  It  was 
already  growing  dusk,  when  I  suddenly  saw  in  the  gen- 
eral obscurity  something  dark  lying  right  in  our  path.  I 
took  it  for  some  ordinary  irregularity  in  the  snow,  and 
unconcernedly  steered  straight  ahead.  The  next  mo- 
ment, when  I  was  within  no  more  than  a  few  )'ards,  I 
found  it  to  be  something  very  different,  and  in  an  instant 
swung  round  sharp  and  brouglit  the  vessel  up  to  the 
wind.  It  was  high  time,  too,  for  we  were  on  the  very 
edge  of  a  chasm  broad  enough  to  swallow  comfortably 
sledges,  steersman,  and  passengers.  Another  second  and 
we  should  have  disappeared  for  good  and  all.  We  now 
shouted  with  all  our  might  to  the  others,  who  were  com- 
'i\^  g^yb'  on  behind,  and  they  managed  to  luff  in  time. 

Here  also  Balto  has  something  to  say :  "  The  same 
evening  while  we  were  still  sailing  along  —  it  may  have 
been  about  half-past  seven  and  it  w^as  rather  dark  —  we 
saw  Nansen,  who  was  in  front  on  his  ski,  signalling 
wildly  to  us,  while  he  shouted,  'Don't  come  here;  it  is 
dangerous  ! '  We,  who  were  tearing  along  at  full  speed, 
found  it  difficult  to  stop,  and  had  to  swing  around  and 
throw  ourselves  on  our  sides.  At  the  same  time  we  saw 
in  front  of  us  an  awful  crack  in  the  ice,  which  was  many 
hundred  feet  deep." 

i\s  to  the  rest  of  the  day's  sail  my  diary  says :  "  This 


y///'.-    CA'OSS/NG    OF   'J/f/C    INLAND  ICE  125 


SAII.IM;    IN'     MUONLUIUT.       "WHEN     THEbNOW    LOOKED     TKEALil  KKOl  .S    I    HAD     TO 
GO   CAUTIOUSLY   AND   USE    MY    STAFF  " 


was  tlic  first  crevasse,  but  was  not  likely  to  be  the  only 
one,  and  we  must  now  go  warily.  It  was  suggested  that 
it  was  hardly  advisable  to  sail  any  farther  that  evening, 
l3ut  I  thought  it  too  early  to  stop  yet,  as  we  must  take 
advantage  of  the  wind.  So  I  left  the  sledges  and  went 
on  in  front  to  reconnoitre,  while  Sverdrup  undertook  tlic 
steering  of  our  boat,  and  the  sails  of  both  of  them  were 
taken  in  a  bit.  The  wind  was  strong  enough  even  to 
blow  me  along,  and  I  could  run  long  stretches  without 
moving  a  muscle,  and  so  covered  the  ground  fast. 

"  When  the  snow  looked  treacherous  I  had  to  go 
cautiously  and  use  my  staff  to  see  whether  I  had  solid 
ground  under  foot,  and,  if  not,  to  signal  to  the  others  to 
wait  till  I  had  found  a  safer  route.  In  spite  of  all  precau- 
tions, Sverdrup  and  Christiansen  all  but  came  to  grief 
once,  as  the  snow  fell  in  behind  them  just  as  tliey  had 
passed    over   an    unsuspected    crevasse.     Meantime    the 


126  JV.-4XS£2V  IN  THE  FROZEN   WORLD 

wind  was  steadily  increasing,  and  tlie  sails  had  to  be 
taken  in  more  and  more  to  prevent  the  sledges  overrun- 
ning me.  As  we  were  all  getting  hungry,  biscuits  were 
served  out,  but  no  halt  was  made  to  eat  them. 

"  It  was  rapidly  getting  dark,  but  the  full  moon  was  now 
rising,  and  she  gave  us  light  enough  to  see  and  avoid  the 
worst  crevasses.  It  was  a  curious  sight  for  me  to  see  the 
two  vessels  coming  rushing  along  behind  me,  with  their 
square  viking-like  sails  showing  dark  against  the  white 
snow-field  and  the  big  round  disc  of  the  moon  behind. 

"  Faster  and  faster  I  go  flying  on,  while  the  ice  gets 
more  and  more  difficult.  There  is  worse  still  ahead,  I  can 
see,  and  in  another  moment  I  am  into  it.  The  ground  is 
here  seamed  with  crevasses,  but  they  are  full  of  snow  and 
not  dangerous.  Every  now  and  then  I  feel  my  staff  go 
through  into  space,  but  the  cracks  are  narrow  and  the 
sledges  glide  easily  over.  Presently  I  cross  a  broader  one, 
and  see  just  in  front  of  me  a  huge  black  abyss.  I  creep 
cautiously  to  its  edge  on  the  slippery  ice,  wdiich  here  is 
covered  by  scarcely  any  snow,  and  look  down  into  the 
deep,  dark  chasm.  Beyond  it  I  can  see  crevasse  after  cre- 
vasse, running  -parallel  with  one  another,  and  showing 
dark  blue  in  the  moonlight.  I  now  tell  the  others  to  stop, 
as  this  is  no  ground  to  traverse  in  the  dark,  and  we  must 
halt  for  the  night. 

"  In  the  west  we  could  now^  see  land  again  against  the 
evening  sky,  which  still  shows  a  faint  trace  of  day.  They 
were  the  same  mountains  we  had  first  seen,  but  they  now 
tower  high  above  the  horizon,  and  to  the  south  of  these 
peaks  again  there  is  a  long  ridge  of  rock  protruding  from 
the  snow. 

"  It  was  a  difficult  business  to  get  the  tent  up  in  this 


yy/A    CA'OW/AG'    OF   J  UK    LXLAXD    JCJ:  127 

stroni;-  wind,  aiul  on  the  hard,  slippery  ice,  which  L!;aw  no 
hold  for  our  i!;ny-roiJcs,  and  wc  had  to  cut  deep  holes 
before  we  could  make  our  staffs  do  duty  as  l)egs.  At  last, 
after  havini^  fared  worse  than  usual  with  the  cold,  we  ''ot 
the  tent  up  and  were  able  to  crawl  into  a  partial  shelter. 
No  one  was  inclined  to  do  any  cooking  that  evening,  as 
even  inside  the  tent  the  wind  was  much  too  aggressive, 
and  the  little  feast  which  was  to  do  honor  to  the  day,  and 
which  we  had  much  looked  forward  to,  was  put  off  till 
next  morning.  So  we  were  content  to  divide  our  last 
piece  of  Gruyere  cheese,  and  then,  well  pleased  with  our- 
selves and  our  day's  work,  creep  into  our  sleej)ing-bags. 
I  now  discovered  for  the  first  time  that  I  had  got  the  fin- 
gers of  both  my  hands  frozen  during  the  afternoon's  sail. 
It  was  too  late  now  to  rub  them  with  snow,  as  they  had 
begun  to  thaw  on  their  own  account,  but  that  night  the 
pain  they  gave  me  was  almost  unendurable,  till  I  fell 
asleej)  in  spite  of  it." 

Early  next  morning,  September  20,  I  started  wy  with 
the  consciousness  that  I  had  forgotten  to  wind  my  watch 
up  over-night.  Unluckily  Sverdru])  had  done  exactly  the 
same,  and  though  we  wound  them  both  up  at  once  it  was 
now  too  late.  This  was,  of  course,  rather  unfortunate  for 
our  longitude  observations,  but  we  were  now  so  near  land 
that  we  could  reckon  our  position  with  tolerable  exacti- 
tude nevertheless. 

When  we  looked  out  of  the  tent  we  could  see  the  whole 
country  to  the  south  of  Godthaabsfjord  lying  spread  out 
before  us,  a  rough  mountainous  tract  with  many  deep  val- 
leys and  lofty  jDcaks.  Those  who  remember  their  first 
sight  of  a  mountain  landscape  in  their  childhood,  with  its 
sunlit  peaks  and   stretches  of   glittering  snow  ;  who  can 


128  NANSEN  AV  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

remember  huw  this  new  mysterious  world  fascinated  and 
allured  them  —  they  will  understand  what  our  feelings 
were  this  morning.  We  were  just  like  children,  as  we  sat 
and  crazed,  and  followed  the  lines  of  the  valleys  down- 
ward  in  the  vain  search  for  a  glimpse  of  the  sea.  It  was 
a  fine  country  that  lay  before  us,  wild  and  grand  as  the 
western  coast  of  Norway.  Fresh  snow  lay  sprinkled  about 
the  mountain  tops,  between  which  were  deep  black  gorges. 
At  the  bottom  of  these  were  the  fjords,  which  we  could 
fancy,  but  could  not  see.  A  journey  to  Godthaab  in  this 
kind  of  country  looked  anything  but  a  simple  matter. 

We  enjoyed  our  grand  breakfast  at  our  ease  and  leisure 
this  morning,  made  tea  unlimited,  and  simply  revelled  in 
cheese  and  oatmeal  biscuits.  It  was  glorious  to  have  a 
treat  like  this  once  in  a  way.  The  morning  was  well  gone 
before  we  got  finally  on  the  move.  In  the  darkness  of 
the  evening  before  we  had  sailed  into  some  very  rough  fis- 
sured ice,  and  w^e  now  had  to  bear  away  to  the  south  to 
avoid  the  worst  crevasses  and  reach  smoother  ground.  The 
snow  throughout  this  day's  march  was  partly  blown  into 
drifts,  especially  where  there  was  any  unevenness  in  the 
ice  to  catch  it,  and  partly  swept  away  by  the  wind,  leaving 
the  surface  slippery  and  bare. 

Presently  we  reached  the  top  of  a  long,  steep  slope 
which  had  to  be  descended.  Sverdrup  and  I  started  down 
on  our  ski  and  had  a  fine  run.  But  our  sledge  was  dif- 
ficult to  steer,  and  we  had  huge  crevasses  on  each  side,  so 
at  last  we  were  constrained  to  take  our  ski  off  for  safety's 
sake.  We  then  went  on,  standing  each  on  a  runner  of 
the  sledge,  and  scraping  and  breaking  with  our  feet  in 
order  to  keep  clear  of  the  crevasses.  The  Lapps  during 
this  run  were  especially  reckless,  and  let  their  sledge  rush 


THE   CROSSJSG    OF  TIIK   INLAND   ICE  i2.j 

ahead  nuich  as  it  pleased.  A  little  farther  down  we  came 
upon  a  flat  piece  of  ice,  which  was  so  slippery  that  it  was 
quite  difficult  to  cross.  It  looked  like  the  frozen  surface 
of  a  lake  or  pool.  Beyond  this  we  found  ourselves  in 
some  nasty  ice  again,  and  after  I  had  fallen  through  the 
snow  sexeral  times  I  thought  it  best  to  jnit  the  ski  on 
again.  With  them  one  is  of  course  much  safer,  as  when 
one  slides  across  the  narrower  crevasses  their  great  length 


COASTINC.    DOWN    THK   SLOl'KS 


will  eenerallv  hold  one  uid.  At  this  time  we  had  a  nastv 
experience,  as  our  sledge  came  lengthways  upon  a  cre- 
vasse, the  snow-cornice  of  which  gave  way  under  one  of 
the  runners,  and  we  only  managed  to  drag  it  on  to  firm 
ground  just  as  the  whole  mass  of  snow  was  falling  in  be- 
neath it.  Ravna  and  Balto  nearly  got  into  a  worse  scraj^e 
once,  when  they  tried  to  take  a  short  cut  instead  of  follow- 
ing our  course.  They  slid  down  on  to  a  huge  wide  fissure, 
whereupon  one  of  the  runners  cut  straight  through  the 
snow  and  all  but  upset  the  sledge,  and  it  was  only  by  the 
skin  of  their  teeth  that  they  escaped.      I    was  furiously 

9 


I30  jvaa:s£a^  av  t///':  frozex  worj.d 

angry  with  them,  of  course,  and  rated  them  well  for  not 
being  content  to  let  us  who  went  in  front  run  sucli  risks 
as  were  necessary.  Christiansen,  too,  was  once  on  the 
point  of  k^sing  his  sledge  in  much  the  same  way. 

Ill  the  afternoon  we  liad  a  hailstorm  from  the  south  and 
southeast.  The  hail  stung  our  faces  and  the  wind  contin- 
ually blew  the  sledges  around,  so  that  hauling  became  hard 
and  difficult  work.  In  this  respect  Sverdrup  and  I  were 
worst  off,  as  our  load  was  very  bulky  and  lay  high  on  the 
sledge,  which  therefore  exposed  a  large  surface  to  the 
wind.  The  steel  bars  or  keels  under  the  runners  would 
here  haxe  been  an  advantage,  but  they  had  long  ago  given 
way  on  the  rough  ice  of  the  east  coast. 

We  stopped  for  the  day  on  a  little  flat,  on  which  there 
was  just  enough  drifted  snow  to  hold  our  staffs,  and  the 
pitching  of  the  tent  was  thus  a  simple  matter.  We  had 
flattered  ourselves  that  we  should  come  within  very  easy 
distance  of  land,  if  not  reach  it  altogether,  this  evening, 
and  we  were  considerably  disappointed  when  it  seemed 
to  us  at  the  end  of  the  day  that  we  were  almost  as  far  off 
as  ever. 

Next  day,  September  21,  snow  was  falling,  and  we 
could  sec  nothing  either  of  the  land  or  the  ice  around  us. 
W^e  had  to  grope  our  way  as  best  we  could,  and  there 
was  no  possibility  of  choosing  the  most  advantageous 
course. 

Toward  ncjon  we  stopped  in  order  to  get  an  observa- 
tion, if  it  were  j^ossible,  as  the  sun  now  and  again  showed 
through  the  clouds.  It  was  most  important  that  we 
should  know  where  we  were,  and  the  day  before  I  had 
been  too  late  for  the  puqjose,  having  made  a  mistake 
about  the  time  owing  to  my  omission  to  wind  my  watch 


7///'.  cA'o.ss/.vi;  ()/■■  in  I:  l\j..\.\d  ice         131 

11]).  I.iiikiU'  tlii>  liiiK'  tlu-  Mill  was  visible'  for  a  wliilc, 
and  1  \\a>  able  to  get  the  .illilii(k\  iny  rcckoiiinij;  j)iitting 
us  .it  about  hit.  64''  I  V  ^•-  1  bi.s  position  ua.s  a  little 
more  northerlv  than  1  .should  ha\e  liked,  the  reason  being 
that  I  had,  as  1  ha\e  said,  steered  too  nuieh  to  the  north 
as  we  were  sailing  .ifter  wi-  came  within  siglU  of  land. 
.As  it  will  a])j)ear,  we  now  had  to  jxiy  some  days"  penalty 
lor  the  mistake,  if  we  had  kept  our  original  more  .south- 
erly course,  we  should  probabl)-  ha\e  been  able  to  sail 
right  down  on  to  the  land  itself. 

We  now,  therefore,  turned  more  to  the  south  wlu'ii  we 
set  off  again.  In  the  course  of  the  afternoon  .S\erdru|) 
and  I  had  a  disagreement  as  to  our  best  route — a  thing 
which  lareK'  happened,  lie  wanted  to  take  us  more  to 
the  right  uj)  on  to  a  ridge,  as  he  had  through  the  snow- 
seen  crevasses  down  below  in  front  of  us.  I  had  seen 
nothing  of  the  kind,  and  ])referred  to  keep  awa\-  to  the 
left  ;  but  after  .some  di.scussion  Sverdru])  j)revailed,  and 
we  climbed  the  ridge,  but  only  to  find  oursehes  in  the 
middle  of  some  terrible  crevasses.  They  were  worse 
than  any  we  had  hitherto  had  to  deal  with,  and  we  were 
very  glad  to  clear  out  again  and  bear  awa\-  more  to  the 
.south.  Here  we  found  a  tolerably  smooth  stretch  of  ice 
forming  the  bottom  of  a  valley  between  two  ridges,  which 
were  both  quite  a  network  of  fi.ssnres.  Tliis  allev  or  fur- 
row narrowed  in  front  of  us,  and  ended  in  a  defile,  where 
the  two  ridges  almost  met.  I  lere  there  was  an  al)rii|)t 
fall  in  the  ground,  and  dic  ice  was  uncomfortabK'  rough. 
I  he  place  lookc-d  all  but  impracticable,  and  it  was  clearlv 
no  use  trying  to  push  on  anv  farther  while  the  weather 
was  so  thick.  It  seemed  very  likely  that  we  had  come 
too  far  already. 


,jj  .\U.yS£N  IN  THE  FKOZEX   WORLD 

So  it  was  settled  that  Dietrichson,  Ravna,  and  Balto 
should  pitch  the  tent,  while  Sverdrup,  Christiansen,  and  I 
j»houId  go  down  and  see  whether  this  broken  ice  would 
allow  of  a  passage.  Balto  in  his  quality  of  under-cook 
was  told  to  set  the  apparatus  going,  and  have  everything 
ready  by  the  time  we  came  back — some  good  pea-soup 
and  plenty  of  hot  water  in  the  upper  vessel,  so  that  we 
could  have  some  lemon-grog  after  >ui)i)cr. 

We  three  soon  had  the  Alpine  rope  round  our  waists 
and  set  off  downward.  The  ice  was  unusually  rough 
and  hard  to  pass,  a  simple  chaos  of  sharp  edges  with  fis- 
sures in  between ;  but  it  was  not  dangerous,  as  the  clefts 
were  as  a  rule  not  deep. 

We  had  not  gone  far  before,  to  my  astonishment,  I  saw 
a  little  dark  spot  down  below  us  between  some  ridges 
covered  with  snow.  It  looked  amazingly  like  water,  but 
it  was  quite  possible  that  it  was  only  ice,  so  I  said  nothing 
to  the  others.  Hut  when  I  reached  it  and,  putting  my 
staff  in,  met  with  no  resistance,  our  surprise  and  delight 
were  quite  unbounded.  We  threw  ourselves  down,  put 
our  lips  to  the  surface,  and  sucked  up  the  water  like 
horses.  After  a  month  of  incessant  thirst  and  limited 
rations,  the  pleasure  of  having  abundance  of  drink  was 
indescribable.  How  many  quarts  we  swallowed  I  should 
not  like  to  say,  but  we  plainly  felt  ourselves  swell  within 
and  without  during  the  operation.  We  then  went  on 
refreshed,  but  before  we  had  gone  far  we  heard  some  one 
shouting  behind,  and  saw  little  Ravna  running  after  us 
as  fast  as  his  short  legs  would  carry  him.  We  waited, 
fearing  that  there  was  something  wrong  in  the  camp,  and 
I  was  much  relieved  to  hear,  when  he  came  up,  that  all 
he  wanted  was  the  wicks  for  the  spirit-lamp,  which   I  usu- 


THE    CKOSSJ.\G    OF   'llJE   lALAMJ   JCE 


^11 


ally  carried  in  w^\■  pocket  to  keep  them  dry.  I  was  anx- 
ious to  know  whether  he  had  seen  the  water,  for  Ravna 
was  the  worst  of  all  of  us  to  drink  when  he  had  the 
chance,  and  I  was  half  afraid  that  he  would  l;()  at  it  till 
he  made  himself  ill.  lie  had  seen  the  water,  he  told  us, 
but  had  not  had  time  to  attend  to  it  as  he  came  down, 
though  he  meant  to  make  up  for  the  omission  on  the  way 
back. 

So  we  sent  him  off  again  and  went  on  with  our  e\})lora- 
tion.  We  presently  found  ourselves  among  the  roughest 
ice  I  had  ever  seen,  and  all  that  I  knew  of  from  Captain 
Jensen's  descriptions  was  nothing  compared  to  this. 
Absolutely  impassable  it  was  not,  but  ridge  upon  ridge, 
each  sharper  and  more  impracticable  than  its  neighbor, 
lay  in  all  directions,  while  between  them  were  deep  clefts, 
often  half  full  of  water,  which  was  covered  with  a  thin  skin 
of  ice  not  strong  enough  to  bear. 

Darkness  was  already  coming  on  when  we  finally 
turned  homeward.  We  were  wretchedly  done  up  by 
liaving  to  toil  over  this  rough  ground,  on  which  the  soft 
snow  lay  deep  in  places,  and  were  much  comforted  when 
we  at  last  caught  sight  of  the  tent  in  the  distance.  As 
we  passed  the  pool  again  we  must  needs  have  another 
drink.  We  lay  down  and  let  the  water  fairly  flow  down 
our  throats.  Our  foreheads  grew  numb  and  cold,  but 
that  did  not  stop  us.  It  was  a  truly  di\ine  pleasure  to  be 
able  once  more  to  drink  to  the  very  end  of  one's  thirst. 
A  cheering  smell  of  good  ]Dea-soup  met  us  as  we  entered 
our  little  tent,  where  we  found  the  others  squatting  around 
the  cooking  machine.  Balto  had  everything  hot  and 
ready  for  us,  and  was  verv  ]^roud  of  having  carried  out 
his  orders  to  the  letter. 


,34  ,\UyS£.V  IN  THE  FROZEN   WORLD 

Hii  dcstTiptinn.  too,  will  serve  to  tell  us  what  the  rest 
iif  the  party  did  while  we  were  away. 

"The  other  three  went  off  with  a  rope  round  their 
waists  to  liKik  for  a  way,  while  we  —  that  is,  Ravna,  Die- 
trichson.  and  I  —  stayed  behind  to  i)ut  uj)  the  tent.  I 
had  to  n»..  ae   pea-souj),   too.  for   I   was   cook.     So 

I  i»ot  the  machine  out.  but  then  found  that  there  were 
MO  wicks,  as  Nansen  had  them  in  his  pocket.  So  I  sent 
Kavna  off  to  get  them,  and  when  he  came  back  he  said 
he  had  found  water  and  drunk  his  stomach  full.  When 
I  heard  this  I  caught  ujj  a  tin  box  and  ran  as  hard  as  I 
could  go  till  I  reached  the  jjool.  Then  I  threw  myself 
down  and  began  to  drink.  1  had  to  lift  my  head  up  now 
and  then  to  get  breath,  and  then  I  went  on  drinking 
again.  It  tasted  just  like  fresh,  sweet  milk,  for  we  had 
not  had  any  water  for  a  whole  month.  Then  I  filled  the 
tin  and  carried  it  uji  to  the  tent,  and  when  Dietrichson 
saw  it  he  lay  down  and  drank  till  he  could  not  hold  any 
more.  The  tin  was  a  very  big  one,  but  there  was  only 
just  enough  left  for  the  pea-soup  afterward.  We  found 
plenty  «)f  water  every  day  after  this." 

I  am  sure  we  all  remember  September  21,  when  we 
first  found  water.  I  really  think  it  was  one  of  the  best 
days  of  the  whole  expedition. 

Halto's  fragrant  soup  was  soon  served  out,  and  we  set 
to  work  ui)on  our  supjjcr  with  more  than  usual  keenness, 
which  means  considL-rably  more  than  it  seems  to  say. 
I*:ven  kavna  could  eat  that  night.  He  used  to  declare  he 
nt-ver  could  make  a  good  meal  because  there  was  not 
enough  to  drink.  This  used  to  induce  him  to  save  up 
his  rations,  and  he  would  often  annoy  us,  and  make  our 
mouths  water   fruitlessly,  by  bringing    out    four  or    five 


yy/A    C/WSSJNG    OF  THE   lAL.lXD   JCE  ,35 

spare  biscuits  at  a  time  to  show  us.  Tlic  truth  probably 
was  that  his  little  body  did  not  need  as  much  food  as  our 
larger  ones. 

After  supper  we    had   lemon-grog,   which   consisted    of 
citric  acid,  oil  of  lemon,  sugar  and  hot  water,  a  compound 
which    to    our    tastes    was    nothing    short    of    nectar,   and 
uhicli  we  sipped  and  enjo3-ed   to  the   utmost  as  we  lay  in 
our  sleeping-bags.      l'\,r  my  own   part  it  was  a  long  time 
since  I  had   been   so  tired.     The  laborious  wading^'n   the 
deep,  fresh  snow  had  tried   my  legs  severely,  and  I  do  not 
fancy  that  the  others  were  much  better.      Hut  an   evening 
hke  this  in  the  tent  brings  a  feeling  of  comfort  and  grati- 
tude upon  one,  and  a  veil  of  forgetfulness  is  gentl/and 
soothingly  drawn  over  all  the  pains  and  tribulations  of  the 
day. 

A  candle-end  — the  last  we  have  — has  been  lighted 
for  supper.  This  over,\and  all  our  preparations  fcir  the 
morrow  made,  we  put  out  our  light,  bury  our  heads  well 
beneath  the  hoods  of  the  sleeping-bags,  and  pass  suiftl)- 
and  lightly  over  into  the  region  of  dreams. 


CHAPTER    \'1II 
rnr  descf.nt  to  ameralikfjord^ 

lU.KOKE  UicakLisl  un  ^cpicmbcr  22,  while  Balto  was 
making  the  tea,  Sverdrup  and  I  climbed  the  ridge  of  ice 
which  lay  tu  the  south  of  the  tent  for  a  reconnaissance. 
It  was  seamed  with  broad  crevasses  of  unfathomable 
depth,  most  of  them  running  parallel.  Once  I  fell  through 
a  snow-bridge,  but  the  fissure  was  so  narrow  that  I  could 
keep  my  hold  on  both  its  sides,  and  after  some  amount  of 
struggHng  I  managed  to  extricate  myself.  From  the  top 
of  the  ridge  we  had  a  fine  view  over  the  surrounding  ice, 
and  could  see  that  our  best  course  would  probably  be  to 
keep  a  westerly  direction  for  the  jDresent  and  turn  south- 
ward again  lower  down.  As  far  as  we  can  see,  in  front 
of  us  the  ice  seems  to  lie  in  fissured  ridges,  which  all  run 
westward  toward  Godthaabsfjord.  We  had  been  in  doubt 
as  to  what  valley  or  fjord  the  depression  right  before  us 
could  be,  but  we  could  now  see  that  it  must  be  Kan- 
gersunek.  Altogether  we  were  able  to  make  out  our 
wherealx)uts  very  well,  and  it  was  quite  plain  that  we  had 
come  down  f-.t,.-  ,,r  five  miles  farther  to  the  north  than  we 
had  mean; 

We  found  breakfast  ready  when  we  got  back  to  the 
tent,  and  afterward  it  was  settled  that  Sverdrup  and  I 
should  go  out  again  and  explore  the  ice  to  the  west,  keep- 
ing to  the  north  of  the  jiart  we  examined  the  previous 

*  From  Nansen's  Across  Greenland. 


TJIJi   DESCENT  TO  AMERALIKFrOR D 


'37 


AN   AWKWARD   PREDICAMKNT 


eveningr.  The  others  meanwhile  must  follow  us  with  the 
four  sledges  as  far  as  they  could  in  the  same  direction, 
and,  if  they  could  get  so  far,  stop  at  the  last  ridge  we 
could  see  from  here.  As  they  had  a  fair  wind  behind 
them,  I  thought  they  would  be  able  to  manage  a  sledge 
each  without  much  difficulty. 

So  Sverdrup  and    I   started  off,  and   with   the  wind   be- 


,j8  A^-tySEX  /.V  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

hind  us  ran  fast  down  on  our  slippery  oak  ski.  The 
irround  was  fairly  easy  till  we  came  far  enough  to  see 
":.  wn  into  the  fjord,  which  was  full  of  floating  glacier-ice. 
1  iicn  the  crevasses  began,  but  at  first  they  ran  parallel, 
and  we  pushed  a  good  way  farther  on.  But  presently 
things  became  utterly  hopeless,  a  simple  network  of  inter- 
lacing fissures,  the  ice  protruding  in  small  square  islands 
from  the  midst  of  the  blue  abysses.  Even  the  fancy  could 
form  no  idea  of  tlie  depth  of  these  chasms,  and  the  sight 
of  the  riven  and  chaotic  mass  was  unearthly  in  the  ex- 
treme. Not  a  step  farther  could  we  go ;  there  was  nothing 
for  us  to  do  but  eat  our  dinner  and  go  back  to  look  for 
the  others.  We  found  shelter  in  a  little  crevice,  where 
the  sun  did  its  best  to  comfort  us  and  temper  the  keen- 
ne.ss  of  the  biting  wind. 

On  the  way  back  I  had  the  ill-luck  to  fall  into  a  cre- 
vasse. I  was  left  hanging  by  my  arms,  and  the  position 
was  neither  eas\-  nor  jDleasant.  The  fissure  was  narrow- 
indeed,  but  it  was  very  difficult  to  get  a  footing  with  my 
ski  on  the  slippery  edges.  I  was  alone,  too,  as  Sverdrup 
had  taken  a  different  line,  and,  being  a  long  way  on 
in  front,  saw  nothing  of  my  disaster.  However,  after 
struggling  for  a  while,  I  at  last  managed  to  scramble  out 
by  myself.  Strangely  enough,  none  of  us  ever  went  far- 
ther into  these  crevasses  than  to  the  armpits. 

We  had  not  gone  far  before  we  cauorht  si^ht  of  the 
tent,  which  lay  a  little  way  to  the  north  of  us  and  on  the 
very  ridge  where  the  party  had  been  ordered  to  halt. 
They  had  reached  this  point  about  half  an  hour  before, 
and  the  coffee  was  already  under  way.  I  must  explain 
that  we  were  now  so  near  the  coast  that  the  coffee  pro- 
hibition  was    not    .so   stringently    observed.     It   was   not 


THE  DESCENT  TO   AMERALIKEJORD 


'39 


ON    THE    MORNING   OK    SEPTE.MBER    23:    ROU(;HISH    ICE 


quite  ready,  and  a  short  rest  after  our  little  ski  excursion 
did  us  good.  After  we  had  finished  our  coffee  the  tent 
was  struck,  and  we  set  off  in  a  southerly  direction  in 
order  to  skirt  the  ice-stream  which  flowed  down  to  the 
fjord,  and  in  the  middle  of  which  we  had  just  been.  At 
first  the  ground  was  easy  and  w^e  made  good  progress, 
though  the  wind  did  its  best  to  hinder  us  by  blowing  the 
sledges  around.  In  the  evening,  when  it  was  already 
growing  dusk,  we  reached  a  ridge  of  nasty,  broken  ice, 
which  we  had  seen  in  the  distance  that  morning,  and  w  In'ch 
there  seemed  to  be  no  way  of  avoiding.  It  was  necessary 
to  explore  the  ground  here  before  moving  any  farther, 
and  so  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  encamp  and 
wait  for  daylight.  While  supper  was  preparing  two  of  us 
went  out  again.  The  ice  was  undeniably  awkward,  but 
with   enterprise   we   could   no   doubt  get   through.     The 


I40  .y.-iXSEA'  IN  THE   FROZEN   WORLD 

ridge  was  luckily  not  broad,  and  the  best  route  was  evi- 
dently the  straightest  and  shortest. 

'\  \t  morning,  September  2^,  Sverdrup  went  out  upon 
.iiu.tncr  prospecting  expedition,  and  came  back  with  com- 
jiaratively  reassuring  intelligence.  The  ice  was  not  so 
bad  as  it  had  seemed  to  be  at  first  sight,  and  it  would  be 
|X)ssible,  if  we  put  three  men  to  each  sledge,  to  get  them 
along  without  carrying  them. 

Then  we  broke  up  camp  and  set  out  upon  the  heaviest 


KIM     AND    KKI-LKCTION    (SKPTEMHKR    2J) 
{By  the  Author,  from  a  pliotograph) 

bit  of  ice-travelling  which  we  had  yet  had.  In  many 
places  we  had  to  carry  each  sledge  bodily  up  the  steep 
sloiK-s  of  the  ridges  we  had  to  cross,  while  as  we  de- 
scended the  other  side  the  unfortunate  man  who  went 
behind   had   tr,  hold    ii  back  with   all   his   micdit.     If   he 


THE  DESCEN2-  TO   AMEKA/JKEyORD 


141 


slipped,  down  went  he  and  the  sledge  on  to  the  heels  of 
the  others  in  front,  and  tlie  whole  group  slid  on  together 
Often,  however,  we  were  lucky  enough  to  hit  upon  the' 
course  of  a  frozen  river,  which  gave  us  an  easy  though 
somewliat  winding    passage  among    the    hummocks   and 


ON  THE  AFTERNOON  OF  SEPTEMBER  23:  INTO  BETTER  ICE  AGAIN 

ridges  of  ice,  which  often  formed  cliffs  with  nearly  per- 
pendicular walls.  In  one  case  we  had  to  pass  through  a 
narrow  cleft  which  only  just  gave  us  room,  and  at^^the 
bottom  held  a  little  stream  only  partially  frozen,  the  water 
of  which  stood  well  above  our  ankles. 

In  the  afternoon  we  at  last  passed  out  of  the  wor.-l 
of  the  ice,  and  could  again  take  the  sledges  singly.  The 
surface  was  now  tolerably  good,  and  it  grew  still  better, 
but  the  wind  was  awkward,  as  it  was  always  blowing-  the 
sledges  around.  A  good  way  farther  on  I  discox'ered  a 
moraine  running  across  the  ice  in  an  easterlv  direction 


,43  NJNSEN  IN  TIJI:.   FROZEN   WORLD 

from  the  land.  I  iinairincd  that  this  moraine  must  mark 
the  limit  between  the  streams  of  ice,  more  especially  be- 
cause it  lay  in  a  depression,  and  as  1  could  not  see  any 
gtxxl  in  getting  into  the  full  current  of  another  ice-stream, 
I  determined  to  work  down  toward  land  on  the  north 
side  of  the  moraine.  We  now  halted,  and  the  tent  having 
been  pitched  and  Balto  sent  out  to  look  for  water  for  the 
ctiffec,  Sverdrup  and  I  set  off  downward  toward  the 
land  to  see  whether  the  ice  were  practicable  here.  We 
had  not  gone  far  before  wc  saw  that  our  opportunity  had 
come.  We  seemed  to  h.a\e  crossed  to  the  south  side  of 
the  stream  of  ice  which  fell  into  Godthaabsfjord,  for  the 
surface  seemed  to  fall  away  to  the  south,  or  more  cor- 
rectly toward  the  land  which  lay  straight  before  us.  We 
went  back  with  the  encouras^ino:  news,  and  the  whole 
party  drank  their  coffee  in  the  highest  spirits.  The 
prospect  of  once  more  feeling  dry  land  beneath  our  feet 
was  now  not  far  off,  and  this  was  enough  to  fill  us  with 
delight.  As  soon  as  we  could  we  went  on  again,  and 
with  the  wind  behind  us  made  good  progress,  the  ice 
being  relatively  smooth  and  yet  often  falling  rapidly.  We 
were  disappointed,  however,  in  our  hope  of  reaching  land 
that  evening,  as,  owing  to  the  gathering  darkness,  we 
presently  had  to  sti))).  But  on  the  whole  we  w-ere  more 
than  satisfied  with  the  da)''s  work,  as  we  had  advanced  a 
gcM>d  deal  farther  than  we  had  had  any  reason  to  hope  in 
the  morning. 

Next  day,  Se|)tember  24,  we  turned  out  earlv  and  set 
<»ff  with  the  determination  to  reach  land  that  day.  This 
time,  too,  we  were  not  disappointed.  We  pushed  on  fast, 
a-s  the  gradient  was  often  tolerably  steep  and  gave  us 
much  help.     The   wind   was  fair,  too,  the   ice  easy,  and 


THK   DRSCKXT  TO   AMERAUKFJORD 


143 


everythinL;  i)romisinL;-.  Some  way  clown  a  reconnaissance 
proved  necessary,  as  the  ice  here  got  rather  rougher.  I 
went  on  in  front  and  soon  found  myself  upon  the  brow  of 
an  ice-slope  which  overlooked  a  beautiful  mountain  tarn, 
the  surface  of  which  was  covered  with  a  sheet  of  ice. 
Beyond  was  a  gorge  through  which  a  ri\cr  from  the  tarn 


"UPON   THE    BROW    OF   AN    1CE-SL01>K   WIIUH    OVKRI.OOKED   A    DEAUTIFUL    MOUN- 
TAIN  TARN  " 
{By  A.  Block,  from  a  photo f;rapK) 

ran  downward,  while  to  the  right  the  great  glacier  sloped 
evenly  down  to  its  end  moraine,  and  would  have  formed 
the  most  magnificent  coasting-hill  imaginable,  but  for  the 
stones  that  lay  scattered  over  its  surface.  Here  was  an 
easy  descent  for  us,  and  no  obstacles  to  separate  us  from 
our  goal.  I  soon  had  the  whole  party  by  me,  and  we 
stood  enjoying  the  sight  of  the  land  below.     After  I  had 


144  XA.VS/':.y  IN  TlIK  FROZKN  WORLD 

taken  a  couple  of  plu)tograi:)hs,  we  set  off  down  the  last 
-'     c.     It  was  steep,  steeper  perhaps  than  any  we  had 

; ..vn  before,  and  we  had  to  use  our  brakes  ;  but  the 

>letli:es  went  i^ayly,  and  soon  we  were  safe  and  well  upon 
ihc  larn    below    the   glacier,    with    the    inland    ice 

forever  left  behind. 

W'c  now  pushed  across  the  tarn  toward  tlie  ri\'cr  on 
the  other  side.  The  ice  was  not  everywhere  quite  safe, 
but  by  moving  carefully  we  reached  the  rocks  beyond 
without  mishap,  took  off  the  "  crampoons  "  which  we  had 
been  using  the  last  few  days,  and,  like  schoolboys  released, 
ran  wildly  about  the  shore.  Words  cannot  describe  what 
it  was  for  us  only  to  have  tlie  earth  and  stones  again  be- 
neath our  feet,  or  the  thrill  that  went  through  us  as  we 
felt  the  elastic  heather  on  which  we  trod,  and  smelled 
the  fragrant  scent  of  grass  and  moss.  Behind  us  lay  the 
inland  ice,  its  cold,  gray  slope  sinking  slowly  toward 
the  lake;  before  us  lay  the  genial  land.  Away  down  the 
valley  we  could  see  headland  beyond  headland,  covering 
and  overlapping  each  other  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 
I  lere  lay  our  course,  the  way  down  to  the  fjord. 


THE   BOAT   AND    ITS    BUILDER 


CHAPTER    IX 


ARRIVAL    AT    GODTHAAB 

Next  morning,  September  29,  we  carried  the  boat  down 
to  the  water.  It  was  desperate  work  plodding  along  with 
it  through  this  sticky  sand,  in  which  our  feet  sank  deep, 
and  fixed  themselves,  and  wheezed  like  the  piston  of  an 
air-pump  as  we  pulled  them  out  again  at  each  step.  But 
at  last  we  reached  the  water's  edge,  and  set  the  boat 
down,  to  s:o  back  and  e^et  the  rest  of  our  thinors.  There 
were  any  number  of  gulls  down  here,  and  we  had  looked 
forward  to  the  prospect  of  a  supply  of  fresh  meat ;  but, 
unfortunately,  they  kept  at  a  respectful  distance,  and  we 
had  no  chance  of  a  shot.  When  we  got  back  to  our 
camping-place,  we  came  to  the  conclusion  that  we  had 
had  quite  enough  of  the  sands,  and  determined   to  carry 

'   Iiom  Xansen's  Across  GrccnlitiitL 
10 


,46  y.^ASI-N  AV  77//;  FROZEN   WORLD 

Ihc  uthcr  things  over  the  liiglicr  grDund,  rou-h  and  diffi- 
cult though  it  was. 

When  we  got  down  tu  the  sliorc  again,  we  saw  tliat  the 
boat  was  now  afloat  a  long  way  out  in  the  water,  as,  while 
we  had  been  away,  the  fjord  had  risen  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  flood  all  the  outer  j^art  of  the  sands.  Luckily  Sverd- 
rup  had  been  thoughtful  enough  to  moor  her  fast  by 
driving  a  stake  into  the  ground,  though  we  had  left  her  so 
far  from  the  edge  of  the  water  that  we  thought  she  was 
quite  safe.  He  now  waded  out  to  lier,  and  rowed  her  in 
to  a  i>oint  of  land  close  by,  while  I  moved  the  baggage  to 
meet  him  at  the  same  spot.  Thus,  at  last,  after  a  day's 
labor,  we  had  overcome  one  more  obstacle,  and  were  ready 
to  embark  on  a  good  sea-way. 

After  we  had  had  our  dinner  we  set  out  upon  our  first 
voyage,  our  destination  being  the  farther  side  of  llie  fjord, 
alcmg  which  we  meant  to  coast  on  our  way  outward.  We 
di.scovered  at  once  that  our  boat  travelled  much  better 
than  we  had  expected.  She  did  not  prove  to  be  a  fast 
craft,  certainly,  but  we  could  get  along  in  her,  and  reached 
the  other  side  of  the  fjord  after  what  we  considered  to  be 
a  remarkably  quick  passage.  Nor  was  water-tightness  one 
of  our  boat's  virtues,  for  we  had  to  take  to  baling  with  one 
of  the  souj)-bowls  about  every  ten  minutes. 

Just  here,  the  head  of  the  fjord  formed  a  little  bay  or 
inlet,  which  seemed  to  us,  in  our  present  state  of  mind,  an 
unusually  attractive  sjjot.  It  ended  in  a  peaceful,  gentle 
valley — a  valley  of  long,  brown  slopes  and  stretches  of 
moss  and  stones,  and  skirted  by  low,  round  hills  ;  just  the 
ground  that  is  most  welcome  to  the  reindeer  and  his  pur- 
suer. Our  interests  still  centred  in  all  that  we  could  con- 
nect with  food  and   the  pursuit  of  game,   and   the   more 


< 


.o>^ 


1^1^' 


V 


"^ 


.^'      ^° 


Map  showing  Nansen's  Rmite  across  ( '.rci  iil.iinl  i  frnm  L'rnuik  l<i  ( ■.odtlinab.  —  just  below  the  Arctic  Circle) ;  also 
I'e.irv's  .iiui  Astniji's  expediliim  (frfMii  Mniih  Sniiul  to  lii(le|>ciidoiici-  H.iv  .itul  rrliirn  .u  ro--  tin-  Soih  psr^lleh 


,48  XJ.VS£.y  /y  THE  FROZEN   WORLD 

poetic  reader  must  forgive  us.  To  us,  at  this  time,  this 
\vai>  the  most  beautiful  side  of  Nature  ;  and  for  lier  true 
Ij^.autv  —  the  lofty  peaks,  the  snow-clad  mountains,  the 
precipitous  cliffs,  and  all  the  glories  of  barrenness,  glories 
of  which  Ameralikfjord  has  enough  and  to  spare  —  we 
had  no  eyes  of  appreciation.  Such  delights  are  for  that 
true  lover  of  Nature,  the  tourist,  as  he  wanders  among 
them  on  his  comfortable  steamer,  with  abundance  of  warm 
clothing  and  good  food. 

Then  we  worked  along  the  stupendous  cliffs  which 
form  the  northern  shore  of  Ameragdla,  as  the  inmost 
branch  of  Ameralikfjord  is  called,  and  stopped  for  the 
night  at  a  spot  where  we  could  land  our  boat  and  find  flat 
ground  enough  to  sleep  upon  —  accommodation  not  to  be 
procured  everywhere.  \\  c  had  not  advanced  much  that 
day,  but  we  were  quite  satisfied,  and  very  pleased  to  be  on 
the  sea  once  more.  Our  chief  delight,  however,  was  the 
prospect  of  eating  our  fill  of  good  fresh  meat  after  nearly 
seven  weeks  of  the  driest  of  food.  During  our  row  I  had 
shot  six  big  blue  gulls.  At  first  I  missed  several  times, 
as  the  birds  kept  out  of  range,  but  at  last  one  ventured 
nearer,  and  then  I  had  no  further  trouble.  Gulls,  as  most 
jK'oplc  know,  are  inquisitive  birds  ;  so  when  I  had  thrown 
one  dead  body  out  to  float,  the  others  must  needs  come 
to  look  at  it,  and  I  brought  down  one  after  the  other,  and 
stocked  our  larder  for  the  time. 

These  gulls  arc  big  birds,  and  we  determined  to  have 
two  apiece  for  our  evening  meal.  They  were  skinned, 
put  two  at  a  time  into  boiling  water,  and  cooked  as  little 
as  jKissible.  .Sverdrup  was  afterward  asked  whether  he 
tfKjk  care  to  clean  them  projK-rly.  "  Oh,  I  don't  know," 
he  answered  ;  "  I  saw  Nan.sen  pull  something  out  of  tliem, 


ARR/l'AJ.    AT  (iOJ)rJLlAB 


149 


and  I  suppose  it  was  ])art  of  the  inside  ;  and  some  more 
came  out  in  the  i)ot  while  they  were  cooking.  All  I  can 
say  is,  1   nex'er  tasted   better  birds   in  my  life."     And   he 


SHOOTING   GULLS   KKUM   THE    BOAT 
{By  A.  Block,  after  fhotografih  and  sketch) 


was  quite  right :  we  both  thought  we  had  never  had  any- 
thing which  could  be  compared  with  those  gulls;  the  ten- 
derest  of  chickens  could  not  have  been  better.  W  hether 
the  cause  lav  in  our  appetites,  or  the  ])eculiar  method  of 
preparation,  I  will  not  attem])t  to  decide.  We  looked  for 
no  reason  at  the  time,  but  tore  our  birds  in  pieces  as  fast 
as  teeth  and  finirers  would  allow.     It  was  not  lom::  before 


,5o  X.LVSJ-X  AV  2V/£  FROZEX  WORLD 

the  first  two  had  disappeared,  and  tlien  we  set  to  work 
upon  the  second  with  greater  deliberation  and  more  j^ro- 
longed  enjoyment.  We  finished  with  the  broth  in  wliich 
they  had  all  been  boiled.  Thi^  had  a  \ery  cliaracteristic, 
ganiey  taste,  which  added  nuich  to  its  peculiarity,  though 
we  were  not  quite  certain  to  what  we  should  attribute  its 
origin. 

Language,  in  fact,  has  no  words  which  can  adequately 
describe  the  satisfaction  of  the  two  savages  who  sat  that 
evening  on  the  northern  shore  of  Amcragdla,  and  dipped 
each  his  hands  into  the  pot,  fished  out  the  body  of  a  gull, 
and  conveyed  it,  i)iece  by  piece,  head,  feet,  and  all,  into 
the  dej)ths  of  his  hungry  stomach.  The  light  of  the  fire 
nieanwiiile  was  almost  dimmed  by  the  brighter  glory  of 
the  northern  lights.  The  whole  heaven  blazed,  both  north 
and  south  ;  the  lights  swept  onward,  and  then  returned 
again;  and  suddenly  a  whirlwind  seemed  to  pass  across 
the  sky,  driving  the  frames  before  it,  and  gathering  them 
together  at  the  zenith,  where  there  was  a  sparkling  and 
a  cracklinir  as  of  burninfr  fire,  which  almost  dazzled  the 
eyes  of  the  onlooker.  Then  the  storm  seemed  to  cease, 
the  light  died  slowly  awa\-,  there  was  nothing  left  but  a 
few  hazy  flecks,  which  sailed  across  the  starlit  sky  as  we 
stcKKl  there  still  gazing.  Such  a  display  of  northern  lights 
I  have  never  seen,  either  before  or  since.  And  there,  be- 
low us,  lay  the  fjord,  cold  and  imjDassive,  dark  and  deep, 
and  girt  round  about  by  stei'j)  walls  of  rock  and  towering 
mountains,  the  familiar  fjord  landscape  of  the  west  of 
Norway. 

Next  day  things  did  not  go  quite  so  well  with  us,  as  in 
the  course  of  the  morning  a  head-wind  sprang  up,  which 
blew  so  hard  that,  instead  of  making  progress,  we  were 


ARRJIAL   AT  GOIDTIIAAB  151 

almost  driven  backward,  and  our  little  cockle-shell  danced 
up  and  down  upon  the  waves  to  such  an  extent  that  there 
seemed  every  chance  of  our  capsizing.  She  proved  a 
good  sea-boat,  however,  and  never  shipj^ed  a  dr()i3  of  water, 
except  that  which  ran  in  unceasing  streams  through  her 
bottom.  Against  the  breeze,  though,  she  travelled  very 
heavily,  and  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  land,  rest 
meanwhile,  and  hope  that  the  wind  would  drop  toward 
evening.  This  it  eventually  did,  and  we  embarked  again. 
It  was  not  long  before  we  reached  Nua,  as  the  point  is 
called  which  lies  at  the  mouth  of  Itivdlek  Fjord,  the  north- 
ern branch  of  Ameralik.  Here  the  country  was  less  wild 
and  broken,  and,  with  its  low  ridges  covered  with  moss 
and  heather,  promised  excellent  reindeer-ground. 

It  was  a  fine,  still  evening,  and  we  now  set  about  to  cross 
the  fjord.  This  was  the  longest  sea-passage  we  had  as  yet 
attempted ;  but  all  went  well,  and  we  w^ere  soon  across  to 
the  opposite  shore.  It  was  dark  by  this  time,  and  we  put 
to  land  to  get  some  supper.  Here,  however,  we  found  nei- 
ther fuel  nor  water,  and  had  to  eat  our  food  cold  and  with- 
out drink,  a  state  of  things  to  which  we  were,  nevertheless, 
well  used.  We  had  thought  of  pushing  on  farther  during 
the  night,  but  we  now  saw  some  ominous  storm-clouds 
coming  up  from  the  west,  and  gathering  about  the  sharp, 
wild  peaks  on  the  north  side  of  the  fjord.  The  night,  too, 
was  so  dark  that  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  cross  the 
fjord  again,  as  w^e  wished  ;  and  so  we  determined  to  bring 
the  boat  ashore,  and  get  a  little  sleep,  in  the  hope  that 
the  moon  might  come  to  our  help  later.  During  the  oper- 
ation of  beaching  the  boat,  Sverdrup  was  unlucky  enough 
to  fall  into  the  water,  which  is  not  very  pleasant  just  be- 
fore bedtime,  and  when  one  has  so  little  in  the  way  of  a 
change  of  clothes. 


,5j  .V.-iySEN  IX  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

There  was  no  iniprDVcnicnt  in  the  weather,  and  \vc  slept 
till  the  morning  of  October  i.  It  was  a  splendid  sunny 
day,  and  there  was  a  gentle  w  ind  blowing  to  help  us. 

In  the  course  of  tlie  morning  we  crossed  the  fjord  again, 
and  went  ashore  to  get  ready  a  substantial  dinner  of  two 
*4ull>  apiece  and  a  soup  of  unsurpassed  excellence.  To 
the  broth  in  which  tlie  birds  had  been  cooked  we  added 
peas  and  bread,  and  the  compound  was  so  invigorating 
that  we  literally  felt  the  strength  grow  in  us  as  we  took 
down  one  basin  after  another. 

Unluckily,  at  this  spot  where  we  had  landed  there  was  a 
great  abundance  of  crowberries,  and  as  a  matter  of  course 
we  added  them  to  our  bill  of  fare.  It  was  long  since  we 
had  had  access  to  fresh,  wholesome,  vegetable  food,  and 
we  actually  indulged  ourselves  be}'ond  the  bounds  of  rea- 
son. First  we  ate  the  berries  standing  ;  and  then,  when 
we  could  stand  no  longer,  we  ate  them  sitting;  and  when 
this  posture  became  at  last  too  wearisome,  we  lay  prone  at 
our  ease,  and  prolonged  the  debauch  to  incredible  lengths. 
When  we  landed  there  had  been  no  wind,  but  now  a  stiff 
northerly  breeze  sprang  up,  wliich  blew  up  the  fjord,  and 
made  any  attempt  at  further  progress  on  our  part  quite  out 
of  the  question.  All  we  could  do,  therefore,  was  to  lie 
here,  and  go  on  with  our  crowberries.  At  last  w^e  grew  so 
torpid  that  we  had  not  the  energy  to  pick  the  berries  any 
longer  with  our  hands,  and  so  we  turned  on  our  faces,  and 
went  on  gathering  them  witli  our  lips  till  we  fell  asleep. 
We  slej)t  till  evening,  and  when  we  woke,  there  hung  the 
great  black,  luscious  berries  still  before  our  very  lips,  and 
on  we  went  eating  them  till  we  do/.ed  off  again.  If  what 
people  say  is  true,  that  gluttony  is  one  of  the  deadly  sins, 
then  may  Heaven's  mercy  save  us  from  the  dire  punish- 


AKRJVAL   AT  GOD  Til  A  A  Ji 


•53 


ment  that  must  await  us  for  what  we  did  that  day  in  Anic- 
raHkfjord.  It  has  always  been  a  cause  for  wonder  to  me 
that  we  did  not  pay  the  penaU)-  then  and  there ;  but,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  we  suffered  no  ill-effects  from  our  excesses. 
At  midnight  the  wind  dropped,  and  1  turned  the  crew 
out.      In  spite  of  the  crowberries,  S\erdrup  had   had  siiffi- 


BY    AMEKAI.IRIJOKD    UN    THIC    MORNING    OK    OCTOBER    I 
{From  a  photografili) 


cient  energy  in  the  course  of  the  evening  to  collect  some 
wood  and  fetch  water  in  the  event  of  our  needing  a  meal 
in  the  night.  We  now,  therefore,  fortified  ourselves  for 
work,  and  by  one  o'clock  we  were  afloat,  ready  to  push  on 
with  renewed  energy.  We  made  our  way  c|uickly  along 
the  shore  in  iiitense  darkness.  The  phosphorescence  of 
the  water  was  almost  as  brilliant  as  anything  that  trojDical 
seas  can  show.  The  blades  of  our  oars  gleamed  like 
molten  silver,  and  as  they  stirred  the  surface  the  effect  was 


,54  AU.\'S£.y  Jy   THE    FROZEN   WORLD 

!<*en  in  the  glittering  radiance  that  stretched  far  below. 
The  whole  scene  was  very  grand  as  we  passed  along  under 
the  beetling  cliffs,  where  we  could  see  scarcely  an\  tiling 
but  the  flashes  of  phosphorescence  which  flitted  upon  the 
water  round  about  us,  and  danced  and  played  far  away  in 
the  ccidies  of  our  wake. 

We  seemed  to  have  luck  with  us  just  now  —  a  state  of 
things  to  which  we  were  not  much  accustomed.  The 
weather  was  fine,  and  there  was  no  wind ;  so,  to  make  tlie 
best  use  of  our  opportunities,  and  keej)  the  steam  uj),  we 
had  recourse  to  frequent  stimulants  in  the  way  of  meat- 
chocolate.  Rations  were  served  out  often  and  liberally, 
and  with  apjxarent  effect,  for  we  made  rapid  progress. 

At  dawn,  while  we  were  resting  at  a  certain  spot,  we 
heard  numbers  of  ptarmigan  calling  in  the  scrub  close  by 
us.  It  would  ha\-e  been  easy  to  bag  some,  and  I  was 
tempted  to  try ;  but  we  thought  we  had  no  time  to  waste 
on  land  for  such  a  purpose,  so  wc  showed  an  heroic  deter- 
mination by  rowing  away  from  the  enticing  spot. 

We  rowed  on  all  the  morning  without  stopping,  except 
for  chocolate.  Along  the  whole  stretch  of  shore  the  rocks 
fell  so  abruj)tly  into  the  water  that  there  were  but  two  or 
three  places  where  a  landing  was  possible.  About  noon, 
to  our  great  astonishment,  we  found  ourselves  approach- 
ing the  mouth  of  the  fjord.  Here  wc  came  upon  a  jDoint 
with  a  nice  flat  stretch  of  beach,  and  pulled  in  to  land. 
'I  he  spot  seemed  a  favorite  camping-place,  for  there  were 
several  rings  of  stones  marking  the  sites  of  Eskimo  tents, 
and  masses  of  seals'  bones  and  similar  refuse  strewn  about 
the  place. 

'I  he  consciousness  of  having  got  so  far  made  us  unus- 
ually reckless.     Wc  felt  that  we  should  soon  be  in  Godt- 


ARRIVAL   AT  GODTHAAB  155 

haab    now,  and    in    honor  of    the  occasion  we    contrived 
a  dinner  which,  in  magnificence,  surpassed  even   that  of 
the  day  before.     We  had  now  no  need  for  parsimony  or 
self-restraint,  and   no   meal   thioiiL^liout  the  course  of  the- 
expedition  came  up  to  tliis  in  extravagance.     We  began 
with  sea-urcliins,  or  sea-eggs,  which    I   collected  in   num- 
bers  on    the   beach   close   by.     The   ovaries  of   these  are 
especially  good,  and  little  inferior  to  oysters,  and  of  this 
delicacy  we  consumed  huge    quantities.     We  then  went 
on  to  gulls   and  guillemots,  which   were  followed   bv  the 
usual    excellent    soup.     Biscuit    and    butter    we    had     in 
abundance,  and  there  were  plenty  of  crowberries  for  him 
that  had  recovered  from  the  surfeit  of  the  preceding  da\-. 
It  was,  indeed,  a  dinner  worthy  of  the  name,  as  Sverdrup 
said.     It  was  no  easy  matter  for  us  to  convey  ourselves 
into  the   boat   again,  and   bend   over   the   oars   to   do  our 
proper  work.      If  at  any  time  afterward  I  wished   to  bring 
Sverdrup   into  a  thoroughly  good  humor,  I    had  only  to 
call  to  mind  our  notable  dinner  at  the  great  camping-place 
in  Ameralikfjord. 

Iu)rtune  was  strangely  kind  to  us  that  da\-:  we  now 
had  a  fair  wind  behind  us,  and,  in  s])ite  of  our  torjior  and 
laziness,  we  made  ra})id  progress  during  the  afternoon. 
Everything  was  rosy  to  us  now%  and  we  pulled  away  in 
sheer  fulness  of  heart.  There  was  one  thorn  in  the  side 
of  our  ha]Dpiness,  nevertheless.  This  came  from  the 
absurdly  thin  little  rails  on  which  we  had  to  sit  instead  of 
thwarts.  I  suffered  so  much  that  I  felt  1  could  well  do 
without  a  certain  part  of  the  bod\-  altogether.  We 
shifted,  and  shifted  again,  but  with  little  relief  to  our  sore- 
ness and  discomfort.  The  hap])iness  of  this  world  is, 
indeed,  seldom  pure  and  unalloyed. 


156  A\^XS£.\    Jy  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

Thus  we  passed  out  of  the  fjord,  and  saw  the  sea, 
islands  and  scattered  rocks  spread  out  before  us,  and 
h>;hted  by  the  most  glorious  of  sunsets.  The  wliole  ex- 
panse seemed  to  be  suspended  in  an  atmosphere  of 
gently  glowing  hght.  The  vision  stopped  us,  barbarians 
\ere,  and  deprived  us  of  speech  and  power  of  ac- 
uuii.  A  feeling  of  home  and  familiar  scenes  came  over 
us :  for  just  so  lie  the  weather-beaten  islands  of  the  Nor- 
wegian coast,  caressed  by  fl\ing  spray  and  summer  haze, 
the  outskirts  of  the  fjords  and  valleys  that  lie  behind. 
It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  tliat  our  forefathers  were 
drawn  to  this  land  of  Greenland. 

We  had  set  ourselves  the  task  of  passing  the  mouth  of 
Kobbefjord.  an  inlet  which  lies  just  to  the  south  of  Godt- 
haab,  that  evening,  so  that,  in  the  event  of  bad  weather 
ne.vt  day,  we  could,  nexertheless,  easily  reach  our  destina- 
tion overland.  We  now  came  to  a  little  fjord  which  is 
not  marked  sufliciently  clearly  on  the  map  we  had,  and 
which  we  therefore  wrongly  assumed  to  be  Kobbefjord, 
though  I  thought  at  the  time  that  it  lay  suspiciously  near 
to  the  mouth  of  Ameralik, 

Consequently,  we  thought  we  might  as  well  land  there 
and  then,  as  we  .sat  simply  in  torture,  and  our  legs  were 
stiff  with  the  pain  and  discomfort  of  the  position.  But 
then  it  struck  us  that  we  had  better  keep  on  till  we  could 
see  the  lights  of  Godthaab,  for,  in  our  innocence,  we  sup- 
jx>sed  them  to  be  visible  from  the  south.  We  saw,  how- 
ever, nothing  at  all,  and,  as  tlie  current  now  ran  hard 
against  us,  we  were  at  last  obliged  to  desist  and  go 
ashore.  This  was  at  a  j)oint  which  lies  at  the  foot  of  a 
high  mountain,  which  we  afterward  found  to  be  Hjorte- 
takken.     It  was  now  about    nine  o'clock,  and,  with    the 


ARRirAL    AT  GODTJIAAB  157 

exception  of  short  intervals  for  breakfast  and  dinner,  we 
had  been  fixed  to  those  seats  of  afHiction  for  a  o-ood 
twenty  liours.  It  was  indeed  a  welcome  change  to  have 
a  broad  surface  to  stretch  ourse]\-cs  upon. 

Phenomenal  as  our  dinner  had  been,  the  supi)er  which 
now  followed  was  not  much  less  so.  For  the  first  time 
since  we  left  the  Jason  we  could  go  to  work  upon  bread, 
butter,  and  liver  "pate"  without  restraint  and  stingy  weigh- 
ing out  of  rations.  We  drank  lemonade  to  our  heart's 
desire,  and  did  our  very  best  to  prevent  any  of  that  jjrov- 
ender  which  we  had  beeii  economizing  so  long  from 
remaining  over,  to  be  carried  to  people  among  whom  it 
would  have  no  value.  This  thought  it  was  that  harassed 
us,  and  urged  us  to  further  effort;  but  in  the  end  we 
were  obliged  to  desist,  with  our  task  as  yet  undone. 

This  was  the  last  of  these  wonderful  nights  which  we 
had  a  chance  of  enjoying  before  our  reentrance  into  ci\'ili- 
zation.  We  felt  that  it  was  our  farewell  to  Nature  and  to 
the  life  which  had  now  grown  so  familiar  and  so  dear  to 
us.  The  southern  sky  was  as  usual  radiant  with  the 
northern  lights,  streamer  after  streamer  shooting  uj)  to  the 
zenith,  each  more  brilliant  than  the  last;  while  the  stars 
glittered  in  their  usual  impassive  way,  their  brightness 
more  or  less  eclipsed  as  the  rival  lights  waxed  or  waned  in 
intensity. 

We  were  both  of  us  in  a  strange  mood  :  our  wander- 
ings were  all  but  ended ;  we  had  met  witli  manv  mishajjs 
and  many  unforeseen  obstacles,  but  we  had  succeeded  in 
spite  of  all.  We  had  passed  through  the  drifting  ice,  and 
pushed  our  way  up  along  the  coast ;  we  had  crossed  o\er 
the  snow-fields  of  the  continent,  and  made  our  way  out 
of  the  fjord   in  our  miserable   little   boat,   in   defiance  of 


,58  XJXS£y  /.V  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

winds;  wc  had  worked  liard,  and  undeniably  i;-one 

• ,.^.1  a  deal  of  tribulation  to  reach  the  goal  which  now 

lav  so  near  to  us.  And  what  were  our  feelings  now? 
Were  they  feelings  of  triumph  t)r  exultation  ?  For  my 
own  part,  I  must  confess  that  mine  were  not  of  this  lofty 
order;  to  no  other  feeling  could  I  attain  than  a  sense  of 
gross  repletion.  It  was  a  feeling  grateful  enough  to  me; 
but  as  for  our  goal,  we  had  been  kept  waiting  too  long  — 
there  was  too  little  .surjjrise  about  its  eventual  attainment 
for  us  to  give  much  thought  to  it. 

We  curled  ourselves  up  in  our  fur  ])clisscs,  chose  each 
a  stretch  of  heather  among  the  rocks,  and  slept  our  last 
night  under  the  open  sky  as  well  as  we  had  seldom  slept 
before. 

It  was  late  before  we  woke  next  morning,  October  3, 
and  when  we  at  last  shook  off  our  sleej),  the  wind  had 
long  been  blowing  freshlv  u])  the  channel  leading  to  Godt- 
haab,  and  calling  us  to  work.  But  we  felt  that  for  once 
we  need  not  hurr\'  —  we  ccnild  sleep  to  the  end,  and  yet 
reach  our  destination  in  good  time. 

We  bcijan  breakfast  acjain  with  the  worthiest  intentions 
of  consuming  to  the  last  morsel  the  ])ro\isions  which 
remained ;  but  though  we  attacked  them  manfull}',  we 
had  to  j)ut  to  sea  once  more  with  this  end  still  unattaincd. 
\\  ith  the  wind  behind  us  we  made  rapid  progress  north- 
ward, and  when  we  passed  the  s])it  of  land  on  which  we 
had  camped  for  the  night,  we  found  that  we  had  been  all 
the  time  on  the  south  side  of  Kobbefjord.  This  fjord 
now  lay  before  us  set  in  a  circle  of  wild,  lofty  mountains, 
among  which  Hjortetakken  was  most  conspicuous,  with 
its  sides  sprinkled  with  fresh  snow,  and  its  peak  from  time 
to  time  wrapped  in  light,  drifting  mist. 


ARKIKII.    AT  GOJrrifAAr,  159 

Wc  now  set  about  to  cross  the  fjord  to  the  soulli  side 
of  the  j^roinontory  on  which  Ciodthaal)  itself  Hes.  As  we 
reached  llie  middle  we  heard,  for  the  first  time  for  many 
weeks,  the  sound  of  unfaniihar  voices.  They  were  evi- 
dently Eskimo  women  and  chiklren  from  whom  the 
sounds  came.  They  were  screamiiiL;"  and  shouliuL;';  IjuI, 
though  we  listened,  w^c  could  make  out  notlTing,  and 
though  we  looked,  there  was  no  one  to  be  seen.  Some 
time  afterward  we  learned  that  these  voices  must  ha\e 
come  from  a  party  of  folk  who  had  gone  over  to  "  Store 
Malene,"  a  mountain  h'ing  to  the  east  of  Godthaab,  to 
gather  berries.  They  had  caught  sight  of  us,  and  were 
shouting  to  one  another  that  they  could  see  two  men  in 
half  a  boat,  and  were  much  exercised  to  know  what  new 
sorcery  this  could  be.  Such  a  vessel  they  had  never  seen 
before,  and  they  did  not  at  all  like  the  look  of  it. 

This  Eskimo  description  of  our  little  craft  as  half  a 
boat  was  really  very  happy,  as  it  did  nuich  resemble  the 
forepart  of  an  ordinary  boat.  Some  way  farther  on  we 
saw  in  the  distance  the  figure  of  a  man  sitting,  as  it  were, 
in  the  water.  This  was  the  first  "  kaiaker "  we  came 
across  on  the  west  coast.  Presently  we  caught  sight  of 
two  more;  they  were  out  after  seal,  and  took  no  notice 
of  us.  This  was  either  because  they  preferred  their  own 
business,  or  because  they  thought  there  was  something 
wrong  about  us.  There  is  no  doul)t  that  they  saw  us 
long  before  we  saw  them,  for  the  Eskimo  has  the  keenest 
of  eyes,  and  never  fails  to  use  them. 

As  we  rounded  the  next  point,  Sxerdrup,  who  was  row- 
ing bow,  caught  sight  of  some  houses  which  he  thought 
must  be  Godthaab.  I  turned  m\-  head  in  astonishment, 
and  saw  some  Eskimo  huts,  but  could   not  think   them  to 


,6o  jVMVSEA  /.y  THE  J-ROAEX  UORJ.D 

be  Ciodthaab.  as.  according  to  the  map,  the  settlement  did 
nut  lie  just  there.  Sverdrup  then  said  :  "  But  those  big 
houM.-s  can't  belong  to  these  wretched  Eskimos."  I  then 
tumc*d  quite  round,  and  could  now  see  the  slated  roof  of 
a  long  building,  surmounted  by  a  little  tower,  and  was 
quite  ready  to  agree  that  this  could  not  be  an  Eskimo 
abode,  though  it  struck  me  that  it  might  very  well  be  a 
warehouse.  Hut  as  we  passed  another  point,  we  found 
we  had  before  us  no  warehouse,  but  a  church  and  a  num- 
ber of  Eskimo  huts  lying  by  a  little  bay.  We  did  not 
think  it  was  any  use  landing  here,  and  were  for  keeping 
straight  on  ;  but  suddenly  a  fresh  breeze  sprang  up,  and 
made  it  very  lieaxy  work  to  row,  and  we  concluded  that 
it  would  be  better  to  go  ashore  at  once,  and  proceed  to 
Godthaab  overland. 

So  we  turned  our  little  tub  shoreward,  and  found  that 
a  number  of  Eskimos,  chiefly  old  women,  were  already 
swarming  out  of  the  houses,  and  coming  down  to  the 
beach  to  receive  us.  Here  they  gathered,  chattering,  and 
bustling  to  and  fro,  and  gesticulating  in  the  same  strange 
way  as  we  had  seen  their  fellows  of  the  east  coast  often 
do.  We  could  see  little  or  no  difference  between  the  two 
branches  of  this  people  we  had  met ;  here  there  w-as  just 
the  same  outward  aspect  —  the  same  ugliness,  and  the 
same  beaming  friendliness  and  good  humor. 

When  we  landed  they  thronged  around  us,  and  helped 
us  disembark  our  goods,  and  bring  the  boat  ashore,  all  the 
while  jabbering  unceasingly,  and  laughing,  in  wonder  and 
amusement,  at  us  two  jDoor  strangers.  While  we  were 
standing  there,  mounting  guard  over  our  gun  and  the 
more  valuable  of  our  possessions,  and  ignoring  the  crowd 
of  people  around  us,  whom,  of  course,  we  could  not  under- 


AA'A'/r.lL    AT  GODTHAAB  i6i 

stand  one  whit,  S\crdrup  said:  "Here  comes  a  Euro- 
pean ! "  I  looked  up,  and  saw  a  youni;  man  advancing 
toward  us.  He  was  clad  in  an  attempt  at  a  (ireenland- 
er's  dress,  but  had  a  Tam-o'-Shanter  cap  ui)()n  his  head, 
and  a  fair,  good-looking  face,  w^hich  was  as  little  like  an 
Eskimo's  as  could  well  be.  There  could  be  no  mistake 
about  him  ;  he  and  his  whole  demeanor  were,  so  to  say,  a 
direct  importation  from  "  the  King's  Copenhagen,"  as  it  is 
called  here.  I  le  came  up  to  us,  we  exchanged  salutations; 
then  he  asked,  "  Do  you  speak  English  1  "  The  accent 
was  distinctly  Danish,  and  the  question  somewhat  discom- 
fited me,  as  I  thought  it  a  little  absurd  for  us  to  set  to 
work  at  Eno^lish  instead  of  our  own  mother-tomrue.  But 
before  I  could  answer,  he  luckily  inquired :  "  Are  you 
Englishmen  ?  " 

To  this  I  could  safely  answer,  in  good  Norse:  "  No;  \ve 
are  Norwegians."  "  May  I  ask  your  name  ?  "  "  My  name 
is  Nansen,  and  we  have  just  come  from  the  interior." 
"Oh,  allow  me  to  congratulate  3'ou  on  taking  your  Doc- 
tor's degree."  This  came  like  a  thunderbolt  from  a  blue 
sky,  and  it  was  all  I  could  do  to  keep  myself  from  laughing 
outright.  To  put  it  very  mildly,  it  struck  me  as  comical 
that  I  should  cross  Greenland  to  receive  congratulations 
ui^on  my  Doctor's  degree,  which  I  happened  to  have  taken 
just  before  I  left  home.  Nothing,  of  course,  could  have 
been  more  remote  from  my  thoughts  at  the  moment. 

The  stranger's  name  was  Baumann.  He  was  a  good- 
natured,  sociable  native  of  Copenhagen,  who  was  now  in 
the  Greenland  Service,  and  acting  as  assistant,  or,  as  they 
call  it,  "Volontbr,"  to  the  Superintendent  of  the  colony  of 
Godthaab.  \\>  subsequently  had  a  good  deal  of  his  soci- 
ety. The  Superintendent,  he  told  us,  was  just  now  away 
11 


,62  XANSEN  IX  THE  FROZEX   WORLD 

from  home,  and  in  the  name  of  his  superior  he  offered  us 
a  hearty  welcome  to  the  colony.  Godthaab  itself  was  close 
bv.  and  it  was  quite  by  chance  that  he  had  just  walked  out 
to  Ny  Herrnhut,  the  spot  where  we  landed,  to  see  the  mis- 
sionar)'.  This  is  one  of  the  few  stations  established  by 
the  German  Moravian  Mission  in  Greenland. 

The  first  question  I  asked,  as  soon  as  I  could  get  an 
opportunity,  was  about  communication  with  Denmark,  and 
whether  the  last  ship  had  sailed.  From  Godthaab  I 
learned  that  the  last  ship  had  gone  two  months  or  more 
ago.  and  there  was  none  now  that  we  could  catch.  The 
only  possible  chance  was  the  Fox,  at  Ivigtut,  but  she  was 
to  leave  in  the  middle  of  October,  and  the  place  was  300 
miles  away. 

These  tidings  were  anything  but  welcome.  It  had  been 
the  thought  of  catching  a  ship  to  Europe  which  had 
spurred  us  on  during  our  crossing  of  the  ice ;  the  vision 
of  a  ship  had  haunted  us  unceasingly,  and  never  allowed 
us  the  enjoyment  of  rest  or  ease.  We  had  consoled  our- 
selves with  the  thought  that  wc  could  make  up  for  lost 
time  on  board,  during  our  voyage  home ;  and  now,  w^hen 
the  time  came,  we  found  that  our  ship  had  sailed  before 
ever  we  started  upon  our  journey  across  the  continent.  It 
was  a  magnificent  structure  of  hopes  and  longings  that 
now  sank  into  the  sea  before  our  eyes.  As  far  as  I  was 
concerned  personally,  this  was  not  of  much  account,  for, 
on  the  contrary,  I  was  quite  ready  to  spend  a  winter  in 
Greenland  ;  but  for  the  other  poor  fellows  it  was  another 
matter.  They  had  friends  and  relatives  —  one  of  them 
wife  and  children  —  away  at  home,  whom  they  longed  to 
sec,  and  they  had  often  talked  of  the  joys  of  their  return. 
And  now  they  would  have  to  wait  through  the  long  win- 


ARR/IAL    AT  GODTHAAB  163 

tcr  licrc,  wliilu  tlicir  i)C()i)]c  at  lionic  would  think  them 
loni;-  since  dead.  I'his  must  never  be;  a  message  must 
be  sent  off  at  once  to  the  Fox,  our  last  ho|:>e  of  relief. 
While  we  were  talking-  the  matter  over,  we  were  joined 
by  another  Iuu"o])ean  —  the  Moravian  missionary,  1  I  err 
Voged.  lie  greeted  us  very  kindly,  ga\'e  us  a  hearty 
welcome,  and  would  not  hear  of  our  going  by  his  door 
unentertained. 

He  Hved  in  the  building  with  the  tower  which  had  first 
cauirht  our  attention,  and  which  served  both  as  church 
and  as  a  residence  for  him.  We  were  received  here,  by 
the  missionary  and  his  wife,  with  unaffected  heartiness,  and 
it  was  with  a  strange  mixture  of  feelings  that  we  set  foot 
once  more  in  a  civilized  dwelling,  after  four  months  of 
wild  life  on  shipboard,  in  our  tent,  and  in  the  open  air. 
The  room  we  were  taken  into  will  alwa)'s  remain  vividly 
impressed  upon  my  memory.  Its  dimensions  were  not 
grand,  and  its  features  were  uniformity  and  simplicity; 
but  for  us,  who  were  used  to  a  cramped  tent,  and  the  still 
greater  simplicity  of  the  open  air,  the  appointments  of  this 
house  were  nothing  less  than  luxury  itself.  The  mere  sit- 
ting upon  a  chair  was  a  thing  to  be  remembered,  and  the 
cigars  to  which  we  were  tieated  w^ere  a  source  of  uncon- 
cealed  satisfaction.  Then  the  cup  of  welccnne  was  handed 
round,  while  coffee  and  food  were  being  prepared  for  us. 
It  was  a  queer  change  to  be  sitting  at  a  table  again,  and 
before  a  white  cloth,  and  to  be  using  knife  and  fork  upon 
earthenware  plates.  I  will  not  say,  unreservedly,  that  the 
chancre  was  altocrether  for  the  better,  for  we  had  been 
thoroughly  comfortable  when  sitting  by  the  camp-fire,  and 
tearing  our  gulls  to  pieces  with  our  teeth  and  fingers,  with- 
out forks,  plates,  and  formalities. 


i64  A'.iys/-:x  /y  the  frozen  world 

While  the  meal  was  in  progress,  the  pastor  of  God- 
thaab.  Herr  Balle,  arrived ;  soon  after  him  came  the 
doctor  of  the  place,  whose  name  was  Binzer.  The  news 
of  our  coming  had  already  reached  the  colony,  and  they 
had  hurried  out  at  once  to  bid  us  welcome.  We  were 
now  beset  with  questions  as  to  our  journey:  as  to  why 
we  had  changed  our  route,  how  we  had  got  out  of  the 
fjord,  where  we  had  left  the  others,  and  so  on  ;  all  our 
accounts  being  followed  with  the  most  lively  interest. 
Then  the  party  broke  up,  and  we  took  our  leave  of  our 
kind  ho^t  and  hostess. 

W'liL-n  wc  got  out  of  doors,  we  found,  to  our  surprise, 
that  it  was  raining.  Our  luck  was  true  to  us  this  time, 
and  we  had  reached  the  habitations  of  men  none  too  soon, 
for  the  rain  would  have  been  very  unpleasant  to  us  in  our 
little  boat. 

\\  e  were  assured  that  our  boat  and  thinfjs  should  be 
taken  care  of  and  sent  on,  and  then  we  started  off  to  walk 
in  the  rain  over  the  hills  to  Godthaab. 

After  a  time  our  way  brought  us  out  upon  a  project- 
ing point  of  rock,  and  we  saw  the  colony  lying  below  us. 
There  were  not  a  great  number  of  buildings  —  four  or 
five  European  houses,  a  church  perched  upon  an  emi- 
nence, and  a  good  man\-  Mskimo  huts.  The  whole  group 
lay  in  a  small  hollow  between  two  hills,  and  by  a  pleasant 
little  bay.  The  Danish  flag  was  flying  on  its  high  mast, 
which  stood  on  a  mound  down  by  the  water.  Crowds  of 
pcoj^le  were  swanning  about.  The)^  had  all  come  out  to 
see  the  mysterious  strangers  from  the  interior  who  had 
arrived  in  half  a  boat. 

Then  we  made  our  way  down;  but  we  had  hardly 
reached  the  houses  before  a  gunshot  rang  out  over  the 


ARRIVAL   AT  GODTIfAAB 


'65 


water,  and  was  followed  by  one  after  another,  in  all  a 
complete  salute.  We  had  parted  from  civilization  amid 
the  thunder  of  cannon,  and  with  this  same  thunder  we 
were  received  into  the  civilized  world  again,  for  to  such 
the  west  coast  of  Greenland  must  certainly  be  reckoned. 
It  nu'ght  have  been  supposed  that  we  were  individuals  of 
the  most  warlike  tendencies.     How  many  shots  they  fired 


% 


■4- 


BOLEITK.       tikEENLAND    WOMAN    UV    MiXtl)    RACE 

in  our  honor  I  cannot  say,  but  the  salute  was  well  sus- 
tained. The  little  natix'es  had  all  their  work  to  do  around 
the  guns  under  the  Hagstaff,  as  we  were  passing  among 
the  houses  and  between  long  rows  of  Greenlanders  of 
both  sexes,  who  crowded  around  and  lined  the  wav.     Thev 


,6o  .V.-/A'5A.\'  Jy  rllE  FROZEN   WORLD 

—  and  especially  the  women  —  were  a  striking  sight  in 
their  picturesque  attire.  Smiles,  good  nature,  and  here 
and  there,  perhaps,  a  little  unaffected  wonder,  beamed 
from  ail  the  faces  about  us,  and  added  a  new  sunshine  to 
the  surroundings. 

Then  our  eyes  fell  upon  a  more  familiar  sight — the 
figures  of  the  four  Danish  ladies  of  the  colony,  who  were 
coming  to  meet  us,  and  to  whom  we  were  duly  presented. 
At  the  same  time,  it  struck  us  somewhat  curiously  to  see 
European  petticoats  again  among  all  the  skin  jackets  and 
trousers  of  the  fair  Eskimos. 

As  we  reached  the  Superintendent's  house,  the  salute 
was  brought  to  an  end,  and  the  native  gunners,  under  the 
lead  of  one  Frederiksen,  gave  us  a  ringing  cheer.  The 
Superintendent's  wife  now  welcomed  us,  on  her  own  part 
and  that  of  her  husband.  Here,  again,  we  were  tem- 
porarily entertained,  and  also  in\ited  to  dine  with  the 
doctor  at  four  o'clock. 

We  had  still  a  lonu:  time  to  o;et  throuoh  before  then, 

•3  0  0  ' 

however,  though  we  had  plenty  to  do  in  the  way  of  wash- 
ing and  decorating  ourselves.  We  were  shown  u})  into 
our  new  friend  Baumann's  room,  the  aspect  of  which, 
again,  was  sufficiently  unfamiliar  to  us  to  make  a  very 
vivid  impression  upon  our  minds.  Here  a  musical-box 
|)layed  to  us  "The  Last  Rose  of  Summer,"  an  air  which 
will  hereafter  ne\er  fade  from  my  memory ;  and  here  we 
were,  for  the  first  time,  horrified  by  the  sioht  in  a  o-lass 
of  our  sunburnt  and  weather-beaten  faces.  After  our 
long  neglect  in  tlu-  way  of  washin<f  and  dressino-,  we 
seemed  to  ourselves  little  fit  for  presentation  in  society, 
and.  Ix>th  in  our  faces  and  clothes,  a  considerable  number 
of  tlie  hues  of  the  rainbow  were  intrusively  conspicuous. 


ARRIVAL  AT  GODTIIAAB  167 

It  was  an  indescribable  delight  to  jjlun^c  the  licacl  into 
a  basin  of  water  once  more,  and  to  go  throngh  the  cere- 
mony of  an  honest  Saturday  nights  wash.  Cleanness 
was  not,  however,  to  be  obtained  at  the  first  attempt. 
Then  we  attired  ourselves  in  the  clean  linen,  so  to  say, 
which  we  had  brought  all  the  way  across  Greenland  for 
the  purpose ;  and,  thus  reconstituted,  we  felt  ourseKes 
([uite  ready  for  the  good  things  of  the  doctor's  well- 
provided  dinner-table. 

By  all  the  Danish  inhabitants  of  Godthaab  we  were 
entertained  with  unprecedented  hospitality,  and  the  lux- 
ury displayed  on  all  sides  was  quite  astonishing.  We 
had  expected  to  find  that  the  Europeans  exiled  to  this 
corner  of  the  world  would  be  so  influenced  b}-  the  na- 
ture of  their  surroundings,  and  the  primitive  section  of 
humanity  amid  which  they  dwelt,  that  they  would  have 
inevitably  forgotten  a  certain  amount  of  their  native 
etiquette.  And  therefore  our  surprise  was  great  when  we 
saw  the  ladies  appear  at  social  gatherings  in  the  longest 
of  trains  and  gloves,  and  the  men  in  black  coats  and 
shirt-fronts  of  irreproachable  stiffness,  and  e\'en  on 
occasions  going  to  the  extremity  of  the  conventional 
swallow-tail.  Surrounded,  as  we  were,  by  tlie  natives  in 
their  natural  and  picturesque  attire,  and  thoroughly 
unaccustomed  as  we  had  grown  to  all  these  things,  to  us 
tlie  absurdity  of  European  taste  in  such  matters  seemed 
altoii^ether  inconc^ruous. 

We  two  were  now  safe  in  port,  and  the  next  thing  to 
be  done  was  to  send  relief  to  our  comrades  in  Ameralik- 
fjord  witli  the  least  possible  delay.  rhe\-  had  no  means 
of  knowing  wlietlier  we  liad  reac^hed  our  destination,  or 
had  gone  to    the    bottom  of   the  fjord,  and    left    tliem    to 


,68  yA.yS£N  IN  THE  FROZEN   WORLD 

sUn-e  to  death  out  there.     And  after  tliis  was  done,  we 
must  despatch  a  message  to  the  Fox. 

In  the  course  of  the  afternoon  we  tried,  therefore,  to 
arrange  matters,  but  without  success.  No  sooner  had  we 
arrived  tlian  a  storm  from  the  south  had  sprung  up,  and 
the  weather  was  so  bad  that  the  Eskimos,  who  are  bad 
sailors  in  anything  but  their  "  kaiaks,"  would  not  venture 
upon  the  voyage  into  AmeraHkfjord.  The  letter  to  the 
Fox  was  to  be  sent  b)-  one  or  two  "  kaiakers,"  but  w^e 
could  find  no  one  in  the  colony  who  would  undertake 
to  start  in  this  weatlier,  and  we  were  therefore  obliged  to 
wait  till  next  day. 

When  night  came,  and  lodging  had  to  be  found  for 
us,  Sverdrup  was  quartered  upon  the  before-mentioned 
Frederiksen,  the  carpenter  and  boat-builder  of  the  place, 
while  lierr  Haumann's  room  was  put  at  my  disposal.  It 
was  strange,  too,  to  find  myself  in  a  real  bed  again  after 
six  months'  absence.  There  can  be  few  who  have  en- 
joyed a  bed  as  completely  as  I  did  this  one.  Every  limb 
thrilled  with  delight  as  I  stretched  myself  on  the  soft 
mattress.  The  sleejD  which  followed  was  not  so  sound  as 
I  could  have  expected.  I  had  grown  so  used  to  the  bag 
of  skin,  with  the  ice  or  rock  beneath  it,  that  I  felt  my 
present  couch  too  soft,  and  I  am  not  sure  that,  after 
a  while,  I  did  not  feel  a  faint  loncjino-  for  the  old  order  of 
things. 

(Jn  the  morning  of  (October  4  I  was  roused  from  my 
unquiet  dreams  by  the  gaze  of  the  Eskimo  maid-servant 
who  had  come  with  the  morning  supply  of  tea  and  sand- 
wiches. After  this  early  meal  I  got  up,  and  went  out  to 
look  around  the  ])lace. 

Down  by  the  beach    there  was  just  now  a  deal  of  life 


AA'A'/J'AL    AT  CWD'J'HAAn  ,69 

and  niox'cnicnt,  for  a  boat  s  load  of  seals,  which  liad  hccn 
caught  not  far  off,  had  just  come  in,  and  the  so-called 
"  liensing,"  or  process  of  cutting  the  blubber  out,  was  now 
in  progress.  I  went  down  with  Baumann  to  study  this 
new  phase  of  life.  The  Eskimo  women,  with  their 
sleeves  rolled  up,  knelt  in  numbers  around  the  gashed 
and  mangled  seals.  P^rom  some  the  blood  was  taken,  and 
collected  in  pails,  to  be  afterward  used  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  black  puddings,  or  analogous  delicacies ;  from 
others  the  intestines  were  being  drawn,  or  the  blubber  or 
flesh  being  cut.  All  parts  were  carefully  set  aside  for 
future  use. 

After  having  seen  enough  of  the  sanguinary  spectacle, 
and  duly  admired  the  dexterity  and  grace  displayed  by 
the  Eskimo  w^omen,  as  well  as  the  good  looks  of  some 
among  them,  we  went  across  to  see  Sverdrup,  and,  if  he 
were  up,  to  ask  him  to  come  and  have  breakfast  at  the 
Superintendent's  house. 

When  we  entered,  however,  we  found  him  already  at 
table  with  his  host,  Herr  Frederiksen,  and  engaged  upon 
a  breakfast  of  roast  ptarmigan  and  other  delicacies.  I 
expressed  my  regret  that  this  was  the  case,  as  I  had 
hoped  that  we  should  breakfast  together.  But  S\'erdrup 
could  see  no  reason  why  we  should  not  do  so  still.  I  le 
was  now  occupied  with  his  first  breakfast,  certainlv,  but 
so  good  a  thing  would  easily  bear  repetition,  and  he 
expressed  himself  ready  at  once  to  begin  again.  So  he 
actually  did  ;  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  made  at  this 
time  a  regular  practice  of  eating  his  meals  twice  over. 
For  three  daNs  he  stood  the  strain  ;  but  after  this  he  suc- 
cumbed, and  had  to  keep  his  bed  for  some  hours  in  con- 
sequence.     It  was  a  long  time,  indeed,  before  any  of  us 


,7o  X,^XS£X  /X  THE  FROZEN   WORLD 

returned  to  decent  ways  again,  and  were  content  to  take 
our  food  like  civilized  beings. 

In  the  course  of  the  morning  a  man  was  found  wlio 
was  considered  equal  to  the  task  of  carrying  our  de- 
spatches southward,  and  was  at  the  same  time  willing  to 
undertake  the  journey.  I'lie  man's  name  was  David,  and 
he  was  a  resident  of  Ny  llerrnhut.  He  was  to  go  to 
I'^iskerna^s,  a  small  settlement  some  ninety  miles  to  the 
south,  and  there  to  send  the  letters  on  by  other  "  kai- 
akers."  An  errand  of  this  kind  is  usually  undertaken  by 
two  men  in  comjxany,  as  ri>ks  of  a  fatality  are  thus  much 
lessened.  lUit  as  the  same  I)a\id  was  not  afraid  of  the 
undertaking,  and  had  expressed  his  readiness  to  start  the 
same  afternoon,  I,  of  course,  had  no  objection  to  make. 
I  promised  him,  as  well  as  the  others  to  whom  he  was 
to  hand  the  desj)atches,  extra  pay  in  case  they  caught 
the  Fox. 

I  then  wrote  a  hurried  letter  to  Herr  Smith,  the  man- 
ager of  the  cryolite  (|uair\'  at  Ixigtut.  rhe  Fox  being 
the  j)r()j)crty  of  the  company  who  own  this  quarry,  it  lay 
really  with  the  local  manager  to  decide  w^hat  course  the 
vessel  should  take ;  but  I  also  wrote  to  the  captain  of  the 
ship.  In  both  these  letters  I  asked  that  the  vessel  should 
Ix"  allowed  to  come  uj)  to  Godthaab  to  fetch  us,  if  possi- 
ble. I  did  not  propose  that  she  should  wait  at  Ivigtut  till 
we  could  join  her  there,  because,  in  the  present  uncertain 
state  of  the  weather,  it  was  C|uite  im]X)ssib1e  to  calculate 
how  long  it  would  take  us  to  get  the  rest  of  the  party 
from  Ameralikfjord,  and  cover  the  necessary  300  miles  in 
o|)en  boats.  .\->  far  as  we  could  judge,  we  could  not 
reckon  upon  reaching  Ivigtut  by  the  middle  of  the 
month  —  the  date  at  which   the  slu'p  was  expected  to  sail 


ARRIl'AJ.    AT  CODTHA.Ml 


171 


—  and  \vc  could  not  ask  Iilt  to  wail  an  inck-HniU-  linic  for 
us  down  there.  On  the  other  hand,  it  seemed  to  nie  that, 
if  she  thought  of  doing  anything  on  our  iDehalf,  it  would 
be  to  come  and  fetch  us.  By  these  means  she  could  save 
time,  and  it  would  be  possible  to  reckon,  with  a  fair 
amount  of  accuracy,  how-  many  days  the  \'o)'age  to  Godt- 
haab  and  back  would  take  her. 

Furthermore,  in  case  my  messengers  should  catch  the 
Fox,  but  she  could  not  see  her  way  to  fetching  us,  I 
hastily  wn'ote  a  few  lines  to  Herr  Gamel,  of  Copenhagen. 

This  letter,  and  one  from  Sverdrup  to  his  father, 
brought  to  Europe  the  first  news  of  our  having  reached 
the  west  coast  of  Greenland,  and  contained  all  that  was 
known  of  our  journey  for  six  months.  In  one  respect 
they  hold,  perhaps,  a  somewhat  unusual  position,  for  their 
postage  came  to  no  less  than  eighty-fi\'e  dollars. 

Our  messenger  promised  me  that  he  would  start  that 
very  afternoon.  He  did  make  the  attempt,  but,  as  far  as 
I  could  learn,  was  driven  back  by  stress  of  weather. 

As  things  w^ere  just  as  bad  in  this  respect  when  even- 
ing came,  and  it  was  the  general  opinion  that  no  boat 
w^ould  be  able  to  make  the  voyage  into  Ameralikfjord 
next  day  either,  the  pastor  proposed  that  a  couj)le  of 
men  should  be  despatched  in  "  kaiaks "  to  take  to  our 
companions  the  news  of  our  safe  arrival,^  together  with 
a  temporary  supply  of  provisions,  with  which  they  ct)uld 
console  themselves  until  the  boats  could  be  sent  to  fetch 
them  away.  This  jDroposal  I  accepted,  of  course,  most 
gratefully;  and  while  the  pastor  went  to  secure  his 
"  kaiakers,"  two  pluck)-  brotluTs,  named  Terkel  and 
Hoseas,  who  belonged  to  Sardlok,  but  hajjpened  at  this 
monient  to  be  at  Godthaab,  the  ladies  of  the  colony  set 


,;,  XAXSE.V  IN  THE  FROZEX  WORLD 

busily  to  work  to  collect  a  suppl}-  of  the  most  unheard-of 
delicacies.  These  were  stowed  away  in  the  two  canoes, 
while  I  supplemented  them  with  some  simpler  articles  of 
food,  such  as  butter,  bacon,  and  bread,  and  last,  but  not 
least,  some  pipes  and  tobacco.  Among  the  latter  was  a 
big  Danish  porcelain  pipe  witli  a  long  stem,  and  a  pound 
of  tobacco,  for  Balto's  jjrivate  delectation  —  a  present 
which  I  had  promised  him  up  on  the  inland  ice  on 
some  occasion  when  he  had  surpassed  himself  in  handi- 
ness.  As  soon  as  the  "  kaiaks "  were  ready  packed,  I 
gave  Terkel,  the  elder  of  the  two  brothers,  through  the 
medium  of  the  jxastor,  an  exact  descrijjtion  of  the  spot 
where  the  others  were  to  be  found,  and  pointed  it  out  to 
him  on  the  map,  which  he  understood  well 

Next  morning,  therefore,  October  5,  three  Eskimos  left 
G(Klthaab  —  two  bound  for  Ameralikfjord,  and  the  third 
fur  I-'iskerna'S.  The  first  two,  who  were  excellent  hands 
at  their  work,  made  good  use  of  their  time,  and  found  our 
com|)anions  on  the  morning  of  the  following  day.  But 
the  latter,  who  was  an  inferior  "  kaiaker,"  had  to  turn 
back,  and  was  a  long  time  before  he  finally  got  off.  As 
far  as  I  could  make  out,  he  was  seen  hanging  about  Ny 
Herrnhut,  which  was  his  home,  some  days  later. 

This  same  morning,  too,  a  boat  for  Ameralikfjord  made 
an  attempt  to  start,  but  only  to  come  back  a  couple  of 
hours  afterward.  y\s  I  have  already  said,  these  Green- 
landers  arc  no  great  jK-rformers  with  the  oar.  In  the 
afternoon  they  had  another  try.  and  tliis  time,  strange  to 
say,  we  saw  no  more  of  them;  but,  as  we  subsequently 
learned,  they  got  no  farther  than  to  an  island  a  little  way 
to  the  south,  where  they  disembarked,  and  passed  the 
next  few  flays  in  a  tent  instead  of  returning,  though  they 


AA'A'/l\l/.   AT  GO/)  77/ A  An  ,73 

were  110  more  than  an  hour's  row  distant  all  the  while. 
There  was  a  very  ^^mA  reason  for  this  odd  conduct,  as  it 
appeared,  for  had  they  come  hack  they  would  have  lost 
all  the  pay  which  tlicy  now  managed  to  ])ut  to  their 
credit;  and,  besides,  they  would  have  had  nothing-  like  so 
good  a  time  at  home  as  in  their  tent  on  the  island,  and 
therefore  they  felt  no  call  to  move  till  they  had  consumed 
their  whole  supply  of  provisions. 

Next  day  the  Superintendent  of  the  colony,  Hcrr 
Bistrup,  returned,  together  with  llerr  Ileincke,  the 
German  missionary  from  Umanak,  a  Moravian  station  up 
the  fjord,  some  forty  miles  from  Godthaab.  The  Sujjerin- 
tendent  had  been  in  Umanak,  when  a  '' kaiaker,"  who 
had  been  sent  ofT  from  the  colony,  brought  him  the  news 
of  our  arrival.  He  and  the  missionary  had  thereupon  at 
once  despatched  a  couple  of  men  in  canoes  into  Amera- 
likfjord.  They  also  carried  a  supply  of  provisions  sent 
by  the  missionary  and  his  wife,  and  were  told  to  remain 
\vith  our  party,  and  help  them  in  every  possible  wav. 

On  October  7,  Terkel  and  Hoseas  came  back  from 
Ameralikfjord  with  a  letter  from  Dietrichson,  telling  us 
that  they  now  felt  cpiite  comfortable  in  there,  as  they  had 
an  abundance  of  provisions,  and  now  knew  of  our  safe 
arrival  at  Godthaab. 

Two  days  later,  or  on  October  9,  the  weather  was  suffi- 
ciently favorable  to  allow  of  my  sending  off  an  ordinary 
Eskimo  boat,  which  I  had  borrowed  of  1  lerr  \'ogcd,  the 
German  missionary  whom  we  had  first  met.  The  crew 
consisted  as  usual  chiefly  of  women.  The  same  day.  too. 
the  first  boat,  commonly  known  as  "  the  whaler,"  finally 
left  the  island  on  which  its  crew  had  hitherto  been  \)\c- 
nickino:. 


,74  A.^ys/iN  jx  Tin-:  FKOZF.y  world 

Several  days  now  jDasscd,  and  as  wo  liad  heard  nothing 
of  our  companions,  we  began  to  expect  tiicir  arrival  every 
moment.  The  Greenlander^  in  particular  were  extremely 
anxious  to  see  them. 

Like  all  Eskimos,  they  have  the  liveliest  imaginations, 
of  the  fruits  of  which  we  had  some  noteworthy  examples. 
The  very  day  after  our  arrival  the  strangest  rumors  were 
flying  about  among  the  natives  of  the  colony  as  to  our 
e.\|x.Tiences  upon  the  inland  ice.  We  were  said  to  have 
taken  our  meals  in  the  comijany  of  the  strange  inhabi- 
tants of  the  interior,  who  are  double  the  size  of  ordinary 
men.  We  had  also  come  across  the  tiny  race  of  dwarfs 
who  inhabit  the  rocks  in  the  recesses  of  the  fjords.  Of 
the  feet  of  these  little  people  we  had  seen  numerous  traces 
in  the  sand,  and  we  even  had  two  sj^ecimens  of  the  race 
in  our  company. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  was  reported  that  two  of  the  mem- 
Ix-rs  of  the  exjjedition  had  died  on  the  way ;  but  of  this 
sad  occurrence  we,  as  was  quite  natural,  had  no  desire  to 
speak. 

At  first,  indeed,  we  were  regarded  as  possessing  certain 
almost  supernatural  attributes,  and  it  was  feared  that  we 
had  achieved  the  heroic  feat  of  crossing  the  dreaded 
inland  ice  by  the  aid  of  means  not  strictly  orthodox.  And, 
therefore,  as  soon  as  Svcrdrup  or  I  showed  ourselves  in 
public,  the  natives  assembled  in  Qrreat  numbers  to  eaze 
at  us.  I,  esjjecially,  on  account  of  my  size,  was  a  favorite 
(•hject  of  their  regard.  We  received  appropriate  names 
at  once:  Sverdrup  was  called  "  Akortok  " —  that  is  to  say, 
"he  who  .steers  a  ship;"  while  I  was  honored  with  two 
apjK-llations  —  "  Angisorsuak,"  or  "  the  very  big  one,"  and 
"Umitormiut  nalagak,"  which  means  "the  leader  of   the 


AKRIIAL    AT  GOniUAAB  175 

men  with  the  great  beards,"  under  which  descripti(jn  the 
Norwegians  are  generally  knowr.. 

It  had  also  come  to  the  knowledge  of  these  good  people 
that  we  had  two  Lapps  in  our  company  —  members  of  a 
race  which  they  had  never  seen.  The  two  "kaiakers" 
who  had  come  back  from  Ameralikfjord  had  minutely  de- 
scribed their  meeting  with  the  strangers.  "  There  were 
two  men,"  they  said,  "  of  the  people  \v\\o  commonly  wear 
great  beards,  and  two  who  were  like  us,  but  were  clad  in  a 
wonderful  dress."  They  were  thus  quite  acute  enough  to 
see  that  the  Lapps,  in  si)ite  of  all  distinctions,  belonged 
to  a  race  somewhat  on  a  level  with  themselves,  and  were 
widely  different  from  all  Danes  and  Norwegians. 

At  last,  early  on  the  morning  of  October  12,  the  two 
Eskimos  who  had  been  sent  into  the  fjord  from  Umanak 
arrived  with  a  note  from  Dietrichson,  saying  that  the 
whole  party  were  now^  on  the  way. 

The  entire  colony,  Europeans  as  well  as  natives,  now 
turned  out,  and  awaited  their  arrival  in  great  excitement. 
At  last  we  could  see,  by  a  movement  among  the  "kai- 
aks,"  which  lay  below  us,  that  the  boats  must  Ix'  in  ^ight. 
Presently,  too,  "  the  whaler"  appeared  from  bcliind  a  ])ro- 
jecting  point.  The  "  kaiaks  "  simply  swarmed  around  her, 
and  we  soon  caught  sight  of  our  four  companions,  seated 
in  the  stern,  in  front  of  the  steersman,  and  already  waving 
their  caps  in  the  air  by  way  of  salutation.  It  was  a  little 
strange  to  me  to  see  them  sitting  there  as  passengers, 
instead  of  working  at  the  oars. 

The  boat  came  slowly  on,  with  a  long  string  of  "  kai- 
aks "  tailing  out  behind,  and  soon  jiut  in  to  shore  under 
the  flagstaff  mound,  where  the  four  strange  beings  from 
the  interior  landed,  and  were   heartily  welcomed  by  the 


,76  A^yS£y  JX  TJIE  FROZEN  WORLD 

Europeans  of  the  colon)-,  as  well  as  by  crowds  of  Eskimos, 
to  whom,  of  course,  they  were  a  source  of  renewed 
wonder  and  admiration.  The  Lapps  came  in  for  marked 
attention.  The  Greenlanders  set  them  down  as  w^omen, 
because  they  wore  long  tunics  something  like  the  cloaks 
of  European  ladies,  as  well  as  trousers  of  reindeer  skin, 
which  jwrticular  garments  are  only  used  by  the  women 
of  the  Eskimos,  lialto  seemed  to  take  the  attention  which 
fell  to  his  share  with  the  greatest  complacency  and  non- 
chalance. He  talked  away,  related  his  experiences,  and 
was  soon  on  an  intimate  footing  with  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  place.  Ravna,  as  usual,  went  his  own  silent  way ; 
he  came  up  to  me,  ducked  his  head,  gave  me  his  hand, 
and,  though  he  said  very  little,  I  could  see  his  small  eyes 
twinkle  with  joy  and  self-satisfaction. 

Tiiey  were  all  glad  enough  to  have  reached  their  desti- 
nation, and  the  announcement  that  there  was  a  very  doubt- 
ful prospect  of  their  getting  home  this  year  did  not  seem 
to  have  much  effect  upon  their  good  spirits. 


As  stated  before  in  this  work  (see  page  74),  Nansen  and 
his  companions  had  to  sjDend  the  winter  at  Godthaab. 
On  Ajjril  15  the  shijD  Ilvidbjorncn  arrived,  and  soon  after 
the  home  journey  began;  on  May  21  Copenhagen  was 
reached,  and  on  May  30  they  entered  Cliristiania  Fjord, 
where  they  were  received  by  hundreds  of  sailing  boats 
.111(1  a  \v1i(,l.-  fleet  of  steamers. 


CHAPTER    X 

WITH    THE    CURRENT 

In  the  beginning  of  1S90,  Nanscn  delivered  a  lecture 
before  the  Norwegian  Geographical  Society,  and  set  forth 
his  plan  for  a  new  Polar  Expedition.  "  I  believe,"  he  said, 
after  giving  a  short  sketch  of  the  history  of  polar  investi- 
gation, "  that  if  we  study  the  forces  of  nature  itself  which 
are  here  ready  to  hand,  and  try  to  work  with  them  instead 
of  against  them,  we  shall  find  the  surest  and  easiest  way 
of  reaching  the  Pole.  It  is  useless  to  work  against  the 
current,  as  previous  expeditions  have  done  ;  we  must  see 
if  there  is  not  a  current  that  will  work  with  us.  There 
are  strong  reasons  for  supposing  that  such  a  current 
exists." 

Nansen's  plan  was  founded  upon  the  assumption  that 
from  Berins:  Strait  and  the  north  coast  of  Eastern  Siberia 
a  constant  and  comparatively  strong  sea-current  sets  in 
the  direction  of  the  North  Pole,  whence,  again,  it  turns  to 
the  south  or  southwest,  between  Spitzbergen  and  Cireen- 
land,  follows  the  east  coast  of  Greenland,  and  then  sweeps 
around  Cape  Farewell  into  Davis  Strait. 

Three  years  after  the  sinking  of  the  Jca7iuc(ti\  north  of 
the  New  Siberia  Islands  in  June,  iSSi.  a  number  of  arti- 
cles were  found  on  the  drift  ice  off  the  southwest  coast 
of  Greenland,  which  must  undoubtedly  have  belonged  to 
the  lost  ship  —  among  them,  for  exam]:)le,  a  jirovision  list 
with  the  signature  of  the  captain,  I)e  Long,  a  list  of  the 


lyS  .V.LVS£X  /.V   THE    FRO/.  EX  WORLD 

J(anHclUs  boats,  and  a  pair  of  oil-skin  trousers  marked 
with  the  name  of  one  of  the  sailors  who  were  rescued. 
'I'hc  news  of  this  discovery  upon  the  drifting  ice  floe 
atti-ncted  inucii  attention,  and  it  was  conjectured,  w  itli  a 
plausibility  ajjproachini;  to  certaint)-,  that  the  iloe  must 
have  been  carried  l)v  the  abo\e-mentioned  current  from 
the  New  Siberia  Islands,  across  or  near  the  Pole,  to  the 
place  where  it  was  found.  It  was  calculated  that  the 
articles  must  have  been  conveyed  at  a  speed  of  about  two 
miles  in  the  twenty-four  hours,  which  corresponded  with 
the  rate  at  which  the  yeanncitc  was  borne  along  in  the  ice 
during  the  la.st  four  months  of  her  existence. 

These  relics  of  the  ycanuctte  are  not,  however,  the 
only  objects  which  have  made  the  long  journey  with  the 
current  from  Hast  Siberia  across  the  Pole,  and  have  been 
swept  southward  along  the  east  coast  of  Greenland.  A 
so-called  "  throwing  stick,"  used  by  the  Eskimos  for  hurl- 
ing their  bird-darts,  was  found  by  a  Greenlander,  and 
given  to  Dr.  Rink  at  Godthaab,  who  afterwards  presented 
it  to  the  Christiania  University.  It  has  been  shown  that 
this  instrument  is  quite  different  in  form  from  that  used 
by  the  Greenlanders,  but  exactly  resembles  the  throwing- 
sticks  used  by  the  Plskimos  of  Alaska,  the  northwestern 
extremity  of  North  America,  which  borders  on  Bering 
Strait ;  so  that  it  too,  in  all  probability,  had  traversed  the 
I*olar  Sea. 

'I  he  drift  wood  which  is  washed  ashore  in  Greenland 
in  such  large  quantities,  and  is  so  indispensable  to  the 
Eskimos  in  the  absence  of  timber  trees,  has  been  shown 
to  consist  ff)r  the  most  ])art  of  timber  native  to  Siberia, 
so  that  it  too  must  have  been  carried  by  the  same  current 
across  the  very  precincts  of  the  Pole. 


WITTF   77 fE    CL'RRENT 


179 


NANSl-N     I.N 


iS,j3 


In  tlic  course  of  liis  wanderings  along  tlic  shores  of 
Denmark  Strait,  Nansen  found  on  the  drift  ice  large 
quantities  of  mud.  Of  tliis  he  collected  a  number  of 
specimens,  which  were  examined  by  Professor  P.  Cleve, 
of  Upsala,  and  A.  P2.  Tornebohm,  of  Stockholm,  and 
proved  to  consist  of  varieties  of  soil  characteristic  of  Si- 
beria. Thus  the  i)robability  is  that  this  mud,  too,  had 
made  the  long  polar  voyage. 

These  facts  of  themselves  sufficiently  prove  that  there 


,8o  NAXSEN  IN  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

must  be  a  practicable  connection  between  the  sea  to  the 
north  of  Asia  and  the  sea  on  the  east  of  Greenland  — 
not,  perhaps,  an  open  water-way,  which  one  could  scarcely 
expect  to  find,  but  a  practicable  route  in  the  sense  that 
the  current  carries  the  ice  floes  (now  frozen  together,  now 
piled  one  on  the  top  of  the  other,  and  then  again  broken 
up  and  scattered),  across  the  distance  indicated,  with  con- 
siderable regularity  and  in  an  ascertainable  space  of  time. 
From  these  premises,  then,  Nansen  drew  what  we  may 
fairly  call  the  inevitable  conclusion  that  if  an  ice  floe  with 
what  happens  to  be  upon  it  can  thus  make  its  way  across 
the  polar  area  in  a  given  time,  it  must  be  no  less  possible 
for  a  ship,  fixed  among  the  ice  floes  in  the  course  of  the 
current,  to  complete  the  same  passage  in  the  same  time. 

His  plan  was  to  make  his  way,  with  a  small  but  strongly 
built  vessel,  to  the  New  Siberia  Islands,  and  there  or 
thereabouts  await  the  most  opportune  moment  for  mak- 
ing the  furthest  possible  advance  in  ice-free  water.  He 
thought  it  probable  that  he  could  get  well  past  the  Islands. 
*'  When  once  we  have  come  so  far,  we  shall  be  right  in 
the  current  in  which  the  Jeannette  was  caught.  Then 
the  thing  will  be  to  press  on  northward  with  all  our 
might  until  we  stick  fast.  W'e  must  now  choose  a  favora- 
ble place,  moor  the  ship  firmly  between  convenient  ice 
floes,  and  then  let  the  ice  screw  itself  together  around  her 
as  much  as  it  jjleases  —  the  more  the  better.  The  ship 
will  simi)ly  be  lifted  out  of  the  water  into  a  firm  and  se- 
cure ice  berth."  Henceforth  —  so  the  project  continues 
—  the  current  takes  uj)  the  work  of  propulsion  ;  the  shij3 
is  no  longer  a  means  of  transport  but  a  barrack.  The 
current  sweeps  it  past  the  Pole  and  onward  into  the  sea 
between  Greenland  and  Sj^itzbergcn.     At  the  8oth  degree 


WJJJI    nil':    CLKRJ'INT 


of  kititudc,  or  possibly  before  that  if  it  be  summer,  it  will 
probably  find  open  water  and  be  able  to  sail  home.  r)iit 
if  it  should  be  crushed  by  the  })ressure  of  the  ice  ?  Then 
the  equipment  and  provisions  will  be  moved   to  a  strong 


NANSKN    ON    THK    ICK    (SIMMKU     DRI.SS) 
(From  an  itistantaueotts  filioiograpli) 

ice  fioe,  where  the  tents  will  be  pitched,  warm  tents  of 
double  sail-cloth  with  an  intermediate  layer  of  reindeer- 
hair.  One  can  get  far  upon  an  ice  floe.  The  crew  of 
the  Ilansa  drifted  from  Smith  Sound  right  down  to  Davis 
Strait.  But  if  the  ice  floe  should  break  }  Even  that  will 
not  be  fatal,  for  the  stores  will  be  distributed  over  the  ice 
and  placed  upon  wooden  rafts.     Then,  having  in  thi.s  way 


,S3  A\-iXS/:.v  ix  THE  j-rozen  world 

arrived  in  tlie  Greenland  sea  and  found  open  water,  the 
expedition  will  take  to  its  boats.  It  is  not  the  first  time 
Norwegian  seamen  have  traversed  the  Arctic  Sea  in  open 
boats: If  your  boats  are  good,  it  is  not  at  all  impossible  to 
get  on  amid  the  ice. 

And  it  is  no  unreasonable  calculation  that  all  this  may 
take  no  more  than  two  years.  Five  years'  provisions,  at 
any  rate,  will  be  amply  sufficient.  With  the  food-stuffs 
now  available,  there  is  no  fear  of  scurvy.  Besides,  a 
certain  amount  of  fresh  meat  may  jirobably  be  counted 
on;  seals  and  i)cilar  bears  are  to  be  found  very  far  north, 
and  the  sea  no  doubt  contains  plenty  of  small  animals 
which  may  be  eaten  at  a  pinch.  But  suppose,  now,  that 
the  Jcauncttc  current  does  not  pass  right  across  the  Pole, 
but,  say,  between  the  Pole  and  Franz  Josef  Land }  That 
matters  very  little.  "  We  do  not  set  forth  to  seek  for  the 
mathematical  point  which  forms  the  northern  end  of  the 
earth's  axis;  to  reach  this  })articular  spot  is  not,  in  itself, 
a  matter  of  the  first  moment.  What  we  want  to  do  is  to 
investigate  the  great  unknown  regions  of  the  earth  which 
surround  the  Pole;  and  our  iinestigations  will  have  prac- 
tically the  same  scientific  \:ilue  whether  we  reach  the 
actual  Pole  itself,  or  pass  at  some  distance  from  it  — 
curious  though  it  would  be,  no  doubt,  to  stand  on  the 
very  P(jle  and  be  turned  around  with  the  earth  on  one's 
own  axis,  or  see  the  oscillations  of  the  pendulum  describe 
an  angle  of  exactly  fifteen  degrees  in  the  hour." 

Nansen  finally  dwells  upon  the  scientific  significance  of 
polar  exploration  —  its  ini|)oitant  Ijcariiig  upon  the  prob- 
lems of  geography,  terrestrial  magnetism,  atmospheric 
electricity,  the  Aurora  Borealis,  the  solar  spectrum,  dawn 
and  twilight,  the  jjhysical  geography  of  the  sea,  meteor- 


win  I    TUJ']    CL  Rkl'.NT 


>!*3 


ology,  zoology  and  botany,  pakuontology  and  geology. 
"  We  Norwegians/'  so  he  ends  his  lecture,  "  have  before 
now  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  exploration  of  the 
Arctic  area ;  our  gallant  Tromsb  and  Hamnierfest  men 
in  particular  have  done  excellent  service  in  this  respect. 


NANSKN    ON    THE    ICK    (WINTER    PRESS) 
(Front  an  itistanlaneous  fihotograph) 

But  as  yet  no   Norwegian  crew  has  set  forth  straight  fi>r 
the  Pole  in  a  Norwegian  craft. 

"  The  i)()lar  area  must  and  shall  be  investigated 
throughout  its  whole  extent.  There  has  hitherto  been  a 
noble  rivalry  between  the  nations  as  to  which  should  first 
achieve  the  goal;  and  one  day  it  will  be  achieved. 


,S4  N.^XSl-N  /.y  THE   FROZEN    WORLD 

••  May  it  be  Norway's  fortune  to  lead  the  way !  May  it 
be  the  Norwegian  tiag  that  first  tioats  over  the  Pole !  " 

In  November,  1S92,  Nansen  expounded  the  same  plan 
before  another  geographical  society,  not  a  young  body 
like  ours,  but  old  and  world-renowned  above  all  others  — 
the  Royal  Geographical  Society  in  London. 

There  was  a  brilliant  gathering,  including  almost  all 
the  Englishmen  who  have  distinguished  themselves  in 
Arctic  exploration,  and  they  are  not  a  few.  Before  this 
societv,  the  first  to  which  Nansen,  on  his  return  from 
Greenland  (1889),  had  set  forth  the  results  of  his  expedi- 
tion —  before  this  society,  which  had  done  more  than  any 
other  for  the  advancement  of  Arctic  research  —  before,  in 
short,  the  most  competent  body  of  Arctic  specialists  in 
the  world  —  he  had  now  both  to  explain  and  to  defend 
the  basis  and  the  details  of  his  plan. 

There  they  sat  before  his  eyes,  all  those  celebrated 
explorers  whose  names  were  already  inscribed  in  the 
history  of  Arctic  research  —  those  grizzled  and  white- 
haired  i)ioneers  of  the  polar  world,  the  heroes  of  so  many 
an  achievement  before  Nansen  was  born.  There  sat 
Admiral  Sir  George  Nares  liimself,  the  celebrated  chief 
of  the  Alert  and  Discovery  expedition,  during  which 
Commodore  Maikham  had,  on  May  12,  1876,  reached  the 
latitude  of  83°  20',  a  record  which  only  Lockw^ood  had 
since  beaten.  There  sat  Admiral  Sir  Leopold  McClin- 
tock,  leader  of  the  Fox  expedition  (1857-58),  by  which 
I'Vanklin's  fate  had  been  finally  ascertained.  There,  too, 
was  Admiral  Sir  1^.  Inglefield,  who  in  1852  brought  Kane 
Basin  within  the  sphere  of  geographical  knowledge.  And 
there,  among  the  rest,  was  the  famous  Arctic  traveller, 
Sir  Allen  Young,  who,  so  long  ago  as  1857,  had  accom- 


nrrn  'jj/k  cl  rrrnt  185 

panied  McClintock,  and  in  1S75  liad  taken  the  Pandora 
right  iij)  into  Smith  Sound  to  bring  tidings  of  the  Nares 
expedition  —  the  same  Pandora  which,  under  the  name 
of  the  Jeaiiucf/c,  carried  tlie  hajjless  I)e  Long  to  his  fate. 

A  whole  host  of  other  famous  jxjlar  travellers  were 
present  —  Admiral  Ommanney,  Dr.  Rae,  Captain  W'ig- 
gins,  the  well-known  Yenisei  trader,  Captain  Wharton,  etc. 

It  was  to  this  illustrious  gathering  that  Nansen  was  to 
expound  his  scheme.  His  lecture  was,  as  usual,  clear, 
sober,  attractive  in  its  form,  and  plausible  in  its  matter. 
But  he  here  stood  face  to  face  with  a  concentrated  mass 
of  experience,  all  tending  to  prove  the  insuperable  difificul- 
ties  of  polar  travel,  which  could  not  instantly  make  way 
for  a  new  idea.  Practically  all  of  these  famous  pioneers 
of  Arctic  research,  one  after  another,  commented  unfavor- 
ably upon  the  scheme. 

Old  Admiral  Sir  Leopold  McClintock  opened  the  dis- 
cussion as  soon  as  the  lecture  was  over.  He  bcfran  his 
speech  thus :  "  I  think  I  may  say  this  is  the  most  adven- 
turous programme  ever  brought  under  the  notice  of  the 
Royal  Geographical  Society.  We  have  here  a  true  Vik- 
ing, a  descendant  of  those  hardy  Norsemen  who  used 
to  pay  this  country  such  frequent  and  such  unwelcome 
visits."  But  he  could  not  venture  to  express  any  great 
confidence  in  the  scheme  put  forward,  even  supposing 
Dr.  Nansen  succeeded  in  getting  into  the  alleged  polar 
current.  Sir  Leoj^old  feared  the  force  of  the  ice-pressure, 
and  did  not  l^elieve  that  it  would  force  the  shij)  up  on 
the  ice. 

The  next  speaker,  too.  Admiral  Nares,  expressed  strong 
doubts  as  to  the  plan.  He  particularly  doubted  whether 
the  Fram  would  succeed   in  finding  any  polar  current, 


,86  A.iXSJ'JX  /X  THE   FROZEN  WORLD 

and  dwelt    ui^on  tlie  dangers  of  a  drift  \oyage  such   as 
Nanscn  projected. 

Admiral  Inglefiekl  expressed  liimsclf  more  favorably, 
but  Sir  Allen  Young  again  emphasized  tlie  dangers  and 
difficulties,  thought  that  land  and  shallow  water  would  be 
found  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Pole,  and  very  much 
doubted  whether  the  ship  would  be  forced  up  on  the  ice. 
His  opinion  was  that  it  would  be  wisest  to  strike  for  the 
north  from  a  point  well  to  the  westw^ard  of  the  New 
Siberia  Islands. 

Captain  Wiggins,  too,  was  opposed  to  making  the  New 
Siberia  Islands  the  starting-point,  "  as  they  are  the  most 
treacherous,  low,  sandy,  muddy,  horrible  places."  But,  on 
the  whole,  he  approved  of  Nansen's  plan,  and  ended  by 
wishing  him  a  hearty  God-speed. 

Captain  Wharton,  a  well-known  authority  on  these 
questions,  gave  him  warm  encouragement  as  to  his  theory 
of  the  current.  He  thus  ended  his  speech  :  "  People 
sometimes  ask:  What  is  the  use  of  Arctic  exploration  .? 
Amongst  other  things  1  think  it  may  be  said  that  its  use 
is  to  foster  enterprise  and  bring  gallant  men  to  the  front. 
To-night  we  have  an  excellent  example  of  that  in  Dr. 
Nansen,     I  can  only  say  to  him,  God-speed !  " 

Manuscrij^t  communications  from  Admiral  Sir  George 
Richards  and  the  celebrated  Sir  Joseph  D.  Hooker  were 
also  read,  both  sceptical  and  full  of  warnings.  Sir  Joseph 
Hooker  thus  ended  his  remarks:  "I  may  conclude  with 
expressing  the  hojic  that  Dr.  Nansen  may  dispose  of  his 
admirable  courage,  skill  and  resources  in  the  prosecution 
of  some  less  perilous  attempts  than  to  solve  the  mystery 
of  the  Arctic  area." 

It  was  not  until  late  in  the  evenimr  that  Nansen  him- 


U'/riJ    -JJJE   CURRENT  187 

self  was  at  last  called  upon  for  a  short  reply  to  all  these 
doubts  and  anxious  warnings.  His  answer  is  as  like  him 
as  it  could  be.  Though  plainly  willing  enough  to  take 
advice  as  to  details,  he  is  in  the  main  unshaken  in  his 
'conviction  of  the  practicability  of  his  scheme.  And  while 
he  answers,  point  by  point,  the  objections  to  it,  he  gathers 
new  arguments  from  these  objections  themselves.  Refer- 
ring to  Admiral  Nares's  remark,  that  an  Arctic  expedition 
ought  always  to  have  a  secure  line  of  retreat,  he  answers : 
"  I  am  of  the  opposite  opinion.  My  Greenland  expedi- 
tion proved  the  possibility  of  carrying  out  such  an  enter- 
prise without  any  line  of  retreat,  for  in  that  case  we  burnt 
our  ships,  and  nevertheless  made  our  way  across  Green- 
land. I  trust  we  shall  have  the  like  good  fortune  this 
time,  even  if  we  break  the  bridges  behind  us." 

It  is,  as  Sir  Leopold  McClintock  said,  tlie  old  Viking 
blood  that  speaks  in  these  words. 

For  it  is  true,  as  that  famous  explorer  hinted  at  the 
beginning  of  his  speech,  that  there  is  a  touch  of  romance 
in  Nansen's  scheme.  It  is  constructed,  indeed,  upon  a 
scientific  basis  ;  but  no  one  who  was  exclusively  a  man 
of  science,  or  exclusively  a  sportsman,  would  have  had  the 
foresight  to  conceive  such  a  plan,  or  the  courage  to  exe- 
cute it.  A  creative  and  daring  imagination  is  its  deter- 
mining element. 


CIIAPTHR  XI 

NANSEN  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD 

I.M.MEDiATKLV  aftcT  His  rcturn  from  Greenland,  Nansen 
was  offered  the  post  of  Curator  of  the  Zobtomic  Museum 
of  Christiania  University,  and  accepted  the  offer.  Be- 
sides the  duties  of  this  position,  an  immense  quantity  of 
work  fills  up  the  interval  between  the  Greenland  and  the 
North  Pole  expeditions;  he  writes  the  story  of  what  he 
has  done,  and  he  makes  the  preparations  for  w^hat  he  has 
yet  to  do.  And  to  all  this  we  must  add  his  lecturing 
tours  to  different  parts  of  Europe. 

In  1889  he  married  a  daughter  of  the  late  Professor  M. 
Sars,  like  his  well-known  son,  Professor  O.  Sars,  an  emi- 
nent naturalist.  Fru  Nansen  is  probably  the  most  skilful 
lady  skirunner  in  Norway,  besides  having  attained  great 
celebrity  as  a  concert  singer. 

A  hone)Tnoon  was  out  of  the  question.  The  day  after 
the  marriage,  the  haj^py  couple  started  by  way  of  Gothen- 
burg, Copenhagen,  Plushing,  and  London,  for  Newcastle, 
the  scene  of  a  geographical  congress  which  lasted  a  w^eek, 
while  the  new-made  wife  wondered  in  her  secret  soul  that 
her  husband  should  thus  i:)rcfer  "  geography "  to  "love." 
Thence  back  to  London,  in  the  great  city,  they  let  the 
world,  with  its  discovered  and  undiscovered  countries, 
look  after  itself,  and  gave  themselves  up,  in  the-  solitude 
of  that  densely  peopled  wilderness,  to  the  rapture  of  ex- 
istence.   Then  they  passed  six  glorious  days  in  Paris.     In 


,;.'5'&^^.- 


EVA    NANSF.N 
(Frotn  a  photograph) 


,9o  X.^.VSEX  fX  THE   FROZEN  WORLD 

OctoIxT  they  were  home  again;  but  the  sixteenth  of  the 
month  found  them  once  more  on  the  move,  this  time  for 
Stockhohii.  to  attend  a  meeting  of  the  Swedish  Anthro- 
|K.logicaI  and  Geographical  Society.  This  society  had, 
in  January,  kSSc;,  determined  to  confer  its  Vega  medal 
upon  Fridtjof  Nansen,  and  it  was  now  handed  to  him  by 
the  King.  Only  five  people  had  received  it  —  Xordcn- 
.skjold,  Talander.  Stanley,  Przewalski,  and  Junker.  The 
six)kesman  of  the  society,  Professor  Gustaf  Retzius,  said 
in  the  course  of  his  si)eech  :  "  Dr.  Nansen  has  had  for- 
tune on  his  side  in  hi>  tirst  enterprise.  Let  us  hope  that 
this  victory  may  n(.t  prove  his  Xarva,  leading  him  to  un-- 
ilerrate  difficulties,  and  thus  luring  him  on  to  a  Pultowa. 
May  it  be  only  the  first  of  a  series  of  triumphs  !  "  The 
speaker  knew,  he  said,  that  Dr.  Nansen  was  in  no  way 
puffed  uj)  by  his  achievement,  but  precisely  tlie  same  as 
he  had  been  two  vears  ago  when  he  came  to  Stockholm 
to  consult  Professor  Nordenskjold  as  to  liis  projected 
journey.  But  Nansen  might  well  be  proud  of  his  exploit, 
the  speaker  continued,  because  it  was  an  honor,  not  only 
to  himself,  but  also  to  his  country.  It  is  not  on  the  field 
of  battle  that  small  nations  can  \indicate  their  place  in 
tlie  world,  and  secure  their  indeiDcndence.  It  is  in  the 
domain  of  culture,  of  civilization,  of  science  and  art  —  a 
domain  which  lies  ojDcn  to  all  —  that  they  must  press 
forward  into  the  front  rank  and  strive  for  the  palm  of 
victory.  Here  it  is  that  they  must  seek  for  their  true 
distinction,  and  earn  the  respect  of  the  great  nations. 

As  far  as  we  can  ascertain,  the  Vega  medal  was  the  first 
distinction  of  its  kind  conferred  upon  Nansen.  Seven 
years  ago,  as  an  unknown  seal-hunter  in  the  Polar  Sea,  he 
had  looked  with  reverence  upon  the  gallant  craft  which 


? 


Y 


DR.   NANSEN 


,9a  A.-iyS/:X  fX  THE  FROZEX   WORLD 

had  bcirnc  Nordenskjold  around  Asia.  Now  he  himself 
held  a  place  of  honor  by  the  side  of  that  renowned  travel- 
ler, and  received  the  medal  which  bore  the  name  of  his 
ship  and  was,  according  to  custom,  presented  on  the  day 
when  the  Vega  reached  Stockholm  after  her  northeast 
passage. 

The  Vega  medal  was  far  from  being  the  only  mark  of 
distinction  conferred  upon  him.  In  the  course  of  these 
years  Nansen  became  a  member  of  a  host  of  geograph- 
ical and  other  learned  societies,  and  received  several  gold 
medals  and  other  decorations.  We  may  mention  the 
Karl  Ritter  medal,  and  the  Victoria  medal  of  the  Royal 
Geographical  Society,  conferred  upon  him  in  the  begin- 
ning of  1.S91.  This  celebrated  body  states  as  follows  its 
reasons  for  selecting  him  for  this  distinction :  "  The 
patrons  of  the  X'ictoria  medal,  to  Dr.  Fridtjof  Nansen, 
for  having  been  the  first  to  cross  the  inland  ice  of  Green- 
land, a  perilous  and  daring  achievement,  entailing  a  jour- 
ney of  more  than  three  months,  thirty-seven  days  of  which 
were  passed  at  great  elevations,  and  in  the  climate  of  an 
Arctic  winter;  obliging  him  to  lead  a  forlorn  hope  with 
the  knowledge  that  there  could  be  no  retreat,  and  that 
failure  must  involve  the  destruction  of  himself  and  his 
comi)anions;  and  calling  forth  the  highest  qualities  of  an 
explorer.  For  having  taken  a  series  of  astronomical  and 
meteorological  observations  under  circumstances  of  ex- 
treme difficulty  and  prixation,  during  a  march  which 
required  exception. il  jxjwcrs  of  strength  and  endurance, 
and  mental  faculties  of  a  high  order,  as  well  as  the 
qualities  of  a  scientific  geographer,  for  its  successful 
accomj)lishment.  And  for  his  discovery  of  the  physical 
character  of  the  interior  of  Greenland,  as  well  as  for  other 
valuable  scientific  results  of  his  expedition." 


N.lNS/wV  AT  IfOME   AND   ABROAJ)  193 

A  distinguished  friend  in  Copenhagen,  writing  to  con- 
gratulate Nansen  on  receixing  the  Victoria  niedal,  ends 
his  letter  tluis:  "If  )'ou  should  hereafter  become  '  Com- 
mander '  or  '  Cirand  Cross'  of  any  order  whatsoever,  you 
must  excuse  me  if  I  do  not  congratulate  you.  Crowds  of 
people  have  the  right  to  wear  a  ribbon;  but  the  Victoria 
medal  is  held  by  very  few,  and  it 's  a  devilish  select  com- 
pany it  brings  you  into." 

The  Grand  Cross  is  presumably  in  reserve  for  his 
return  from  the  Polar  Seas.  Hitherto  Nansen  has 
received  the  Knights'  Cross  of  the  St.  Olaf  Order  (May 
25,  1889)  and  of  the  Order  of  the  Dannebrog.  It  can 
scarcely  be  indiscreet  to  add,  that  it  pained  him  greatly 
to  be  the  sole  recipient  of  these  distinctions.  He  felt 
strongly  that  his  comrades  who  had  risked  their  lives  with 
him,  and  sliared  with  him  his  toils  and  dangers,  ought 
also  to  share  with  him  the  public  recognition  of  their 
exploit.  It  was  certainly  no  fault  of  his  that  he  was  the 
only  member  of  the  expedition  who  received  the  cross  of 
St.  Olaf. 

Even  before  he  returned  from  Greenland  he  had  been 
elected  a  member  of  the  Christiania  Scientific  Society. 
A  whole  host  of  evidences  of  the  appreciation  of  his 
achievement  in  scientific  circles  streamed  in  upon  him 
after  his  return,  in  the  form  of  letters  from  the  leading 
authorities  on  Arctic  exploration.  We  shall  here  cjuote 
only  a  single  exj^rcssion  from  a  letter  addressed  to  him 
by  the  celebrated  Arctic  traveller.  Sir  Clements  Mark- 
ham,  dated  March  11,  iSqi.  He  says  of  the  Greenland 
cx-}Dedition  :  "  l^jr  m\  part  1  regard  it  as  being,  from  the 
geographical  point  of  \iew,  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
achievements  of  our  time,  remarkable  alike  for  intrepidity 
and  for  the  importance  of  its  scientific  results." 
'3 


194  .V.LVSLW  AV  77/7:    FROZEN    WORLD 

On  June  24,  1 89 1,  Nanscn  was  appointed  Correspond- 
ing Member  of  the  Institute  of  France,  in  succession  to 
N()rden>l:j6ld,  who  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Foreign 
Associate. 

Wlien  he  and  his  wife  returned  from  Stockhobii  they 
ItKlged  for  two  months  with  Martha  Larsen,  formerly 
housekeeper  at  Great  Froen,  whom  we  liave  ah'eady  had 
occasion  to  mention  more  than  once.  Her  house,  which 
revived  all  the  memories  of  his  childhood,  was  like  a 
haven  of  rest  where  he  could  take  refuge  at  any  time. 
He  had  lived  with  her  during  the  "hard  spring,"  when  he 
had  to  struggle  both  with  his  doctoral  thesis  and  with 
his  preparations  for  the  Greenland  expedition.  Here  he 
would  seek  rest  and  refreshment  of  an  evening  in  chatting 
over  the  old  days  at  Froen. 

"  Do  you  remember,  Martha,"  he  would  say  all  of  a 
sudden,  "  that  time  when  I  came  to  you  streaming  with 
blood  from  a  cut  in  the  leg  .f* " 

"  Indeed  I  do  —  you  had  fallen  on  some  broken  glass." 

"  No —  I  can  tell  you  the  truth  now,  Martha.  You  see 
we  had  got  new  sheath-knives,  both  Alexander  and  I ; 
and  as  I  was  slashing  the  heads  off  thistles  with  my  new 
knife,  I  ran  it  into  my  leg.  But  of  course  I  could  n't  tell 
you  that." 

"  It  was  n't  like  you  to  tell  me  a  lie,"  says  Martha,  with 
mild  rej^roach. 

"  No,  but  there's  a  limit  to  everything,  Martha;  and  I 
could  n't  have  the  new  sheath-knife  taken  from  me." 

It  has  been  the  lot  of  Martha  Larsen  to  sweeten  the 
year-long  toils  of  the  polar  explorers.  Not  that  she,  per- 
sonally, took  part  in  the  expedition ;  but  she  was  the  self- 
appointed  pur\^eyor  of  jams  and  jellies  to  the  Fram.     In 


NANSJ'L\'  AT  IIOMK   AM)   AnROAD  195 

the  course  of  his  voyai^e  northward,  when  Nansen  was 
sending  liis  farewell  greetings  in  letters  to  all  who  stood 
very  near  to  liini,  or  liad  j^layed  an  im]M)rtant  part  in  hi.-, 
life,  he  did  not  forget  liis  faithful  old  fiiend.  I'roni  Kha- 
barova,  Yugor  Strait,  he  writes  to  her  on  .August  3,  1^93: 
"  As  I  am  on  the  point  of  leaving  this  last  place  from 
which  letters  can  be  despatched,  I  must  send  you  a  part- 
ing greeting,  and  thank  you  for  all  your  friendshijj  and 
goodness  to  me."  Her  friendship  he  describes  as  untir- 
ing, and  says  tliat  she  is  always  finding  ojijiortunities  to 
be  of  service  to  him  and  to  his  wife.  We  need  not  ai)ol- 
ocize  for  referrintj:  to  this  simiDle  little  letter.  It  i>  nol 
every  celebrated  man  whose  memory  is  so  alert  at  the 
critical  moments  of  his  life. 

From  Martha  Larsen's  the  newly-married  couj^le  re- 
moved to  the  Drammen  Road,  where  they  set  uj)  house. 
Hut  there  was  too  litde  sun  here,  and  too  much  town,  too 
much  civilization.  They  determined  to  build  for  them- 
selves, and  bought  a  site  at  Svartebugta  (the  Black  Hay), 
where  Nansen,  as  a  boy,  had  often  lain  in  ambush  for 
wild  duck.  While  their  building  oi)erations  were  in  pro- 
gress, they  lived  in  a  pavilion  close  to  Lysaker  railway 
station — a  pavilion  which  has  since  been  transformed  by 
the  painter,  Otto  Sinding,  into  a  comfortable  house  with 
a  sjDlendid  studio.  Hut  up  to  this  time  it  had  never  been 
inhabited.  The  floor  was  close  to  the  ground,  and  it  was 
very  cold;  the  water  in  the  pitchers  froze  hard  every 
night.  "  That  winter,"  says  Mr>.  Xansen,  "  cured  me  of 
the  habit  of  feeling  cold."  In  Uiis  dog-hutch  and  in  this 
biting  cold,  Nansen  set  himself  down  to  his  book  upon 
Greenland  —  he  had  no  difficulty  in  recalling  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  inland  ice. 


,96  A.!.VS£y  /y  THE  FROZEN   WORLD 

If  he  took  an  hour's  holiday  and  became  a  human 
being  again,  he  repented  of  it  afterward.  But  he  was  for- 
ever going  over  to  watch  the  progress  of  the  new  house, 
in  the  details  and  arrangements  of  which  he  took  a  keen 
interest.  The  "  high  seat,"  and  the  bed,  in  the  old  Nor- 
wegian style,  were  executed  from  his  own  designs  by 
Borgersen,  afterward  so  well  known  as  a  wood-carver. 
The  house,  which  was  built  by  Mrs.  Nansen's  cousin, 
Architect  W'elhaven,  was  finished  in  March  1890,  but 
thcv  had  moved  into  it  long  before  that.  It  was  Bjorn- 
stjernc  Bjornson  who  gave  it  its  name.  He  rose  from 
the  "  high  seat,"  champagne-glass  in  hand,  and  said : 
"  Godtliaab  skal  del  hede  ! ''  ("It  shall  be  called  Good 
Hope  I  ") 

Ciodthaab  lies  in  the  bight  formed  by  a  little  projecting 
ness,  sheltered  and  secluded,  and  quite  alone.  In  front  of 
the  house  is  a  wooded  and  grassy  slope,  leading  down  to 
the  shore,  whence  the  fjord  stretches  wide  and  open  right 
to  Nesodland.  Here  Nansen  had  his  foot  on  his  own 
ground,  and  could  keep  his  own  boat  for  sailing  on  the 
fjord. 

But  in  the  autumn  he  set  off  on  a  long  lecturing  tour, 
accompanied  by  his  wife.  He  spoke  in  Copenhagen, 
London,  Berlin,  Dresden,  Leipzig,  Munich,  and  Ham- 
burg. We  have  received  from  one  of  the  most  eminent 
geographers  in  Europe,  Baron  h""erdinand  von  Richthofen, 
a  very  valuable  statement  of  the  impression  which  Nan- 
sen  at  this  time  left  behind  him  in  scientific  circles.  We 
quote  from  a  letter  dated  May  i  7,  1896  :  — 

"  As  I  have  been  confined  to  my  room  for  several 
weeks,  and  am  not  yet  permitted  to  do  more  than  the 
most  imperative  work,  I  unfortunately  cannot  give  myself 


NANSF.N  AT  JIOMI':   AND   AliROAP 


97 


NANSKN  S    IIO.MK 


the  pleasure  of  entering  upon  a  detailed  account  of  Dr. 
Nanscn's  visit  to  Berlin.  I  h()])e,  therefore,  that  you  will 
accept  in  its  stead  the  following  brief  notes. 

"  Fridtjof  Nansen  was  here  in  November,  1890,  two 
years  after  his  memorable  crossing  of  Greenland,  and  a 
year  and  a  half  after  his  return  to  Norway.  As  he 
wanted  to  comjjlete  his  book  describing  the  expedition, 
he  had  hitherto  been  unable  to  accept  any  of  the  rejieated 
invitations  he  had  received  to  visit  Berlin.  On  Novem- 
ber 8  he  lectured  before  a  meeting  of  the  (ieograj)hical 
Society.  He  was  warml)-  recei\ed,  for  we  had  all  fol- 
lowed his  daring  journey  with  interest.  The  peculiar 
magic  of  his  personality,  which  never  fails  to  affect  those 


,98  X.4XSEX  fX  TlIK  FROZEX  WORLD 

who  stand  face  to  face  witli  him,  was  strongly  felt  during 
the  delivery  of  this  lecture.     He  took  us  all  captive  by 
the  magnetism  of  his  immovable  will.     We  saw  in  him  a 
strong  Inan  marching  toward  a  clearly  realized  goal,  and 
cHnging    wilii    tenacious    energy   to   a   well-weighed  and 
carefully    projected    i)lan.     We   were    strongly  impressed 
with  this  feeling,  even  as  he  told  of  his  crossing  of  Green- 
land,   and  how  lie  had   'burnt    his  ships'  before  setting 
forth  on  what   \\a>  then    regarded  as  a  foolhardy  act  of 
daring.     And   it  was  with   growing    enthusiasm   that  the 
meeting  hung  uj^on   his  words  as  he  went  on   to  sketch 
in  outline  his  great 'new  scheme  for  reaching  the  North 
Pole.     Many  were    of    opinion    that    the    enteqirise    was 
altogether  too  hazardous,  and  were  doubtful  of  the  })rem- 
ises  on  which  he  l)ased  his  belief -in   its  possibility.      But 
not  one  among  his  hearers  doubted  that  if  the  tiling  was 
within   the   range  of   human   possibility,   Nansen  was  the 
one  man    jiredestincd   to  carry  it   out.     On   looking  into 
the  rea.sons  ft)r  the  brilliant  success  of  his  first   undertak- 
ing, one    could    not    but    recognize   that  they   lay   in    the 
care  with  which  every  detail  of  the  i)lan  was  thought  out, 
the  sedulous    forestalling  of    every  possible  contingency, 
the  jjhysical   training  whicli  enabled  him   to  cojk'  willi   all 
physical   difficulties,  the   talent   for   making   the   most   of 
mechanical  aids  to  locomotion,  and   fmally,  the  indomita- 
ble strength  of  will.     Although,  no  doubt,  this  new  pro- 
ject  far   surpassed    the    former  enterprise    in    magnitude 
and  daring,    yet    all    the   prec^autions   necessary  to  secure 
a  fortunate  result   seemed   to  have  been   conceived   on   a 
proj)ortionally  larger  scale. 

"  Such,  my  honored   friend,  is   the   impression    Nansen 
left  behind  him.     No  one  who  was  jnesent  can  ever  for- 


;oo  N.^xsjiX  y.v  V7//;  frozen  world 

get  the  picture  of  the  handsome,  well-knit  young  man 
who  so  modestly  told  the  story  of  an  accomplished  feat, 
and  sketched  in  such  simple  words  the  outlines  of  a  still 
more  daring  enterprise.  Every  one  felt  fully  assured  that 
whatever  determination,  strength,  and  intelligence  can  do 
to  vanquish  the  hostile  forces  of  Arctic  nature  might  be 
confidently  expected  of  Fridtjof  Nansen.  And  although 
we  cannot  quite  rid  ourselves  of  the  idea  that  the  assump- 
tions on  which  the  scheme  is  founded  are  not  as  yet  fully 
established,  yet  we  are  convinced  that  Nansen's  clear 
insight  will  realize  the  actual  conditions  when  he  comes 
face  to  face  with  them,  and  that  he  will  wisely  confine 
himself  to  attempting  what  is  physically  possible,  instead 
of  clinging  with  stolid  obstinacy  to  the  plan  once  laid 
down.  In  this  confidence,  we  look  forward  to  seeing 
your  gallant  young  countryman  return  with  a  rich  harvest 
of  scientific  results,  followed  as  he  is  by  the  warm  sympa- 
thy of  the  whole  civilized  world. 

"  One  thing  I  must  add  to  my  account  of  the  impres- 
sion produced  by  Nansen.  I  must  note  the  happy  com- 
bination in  him  of  a  remarkable  spirit  of  enterprise  with  a 
strong  scientific  sense.  These  two  qualities  are  not  often 
found  together.  Especially  in  our  age  of  athletics,  it  may 
almost  be  said  to  be  the  rule  that  the  most  daring  exploits 
—  for  example,  in  mountain  climbing  —  are  carried  out 
purely  for  their  own  sake  and  to  satisfy  a  mere  love  of 
adventure.  So  much  the  more  heartily  should  we  ap- 
plaud the  man  who  is  impelled  Ijy  higher  motives  to  the 
conquest  of  the  greatest  physical  difficulties.  Nansen's 
lecture  left  no  doubt  of  his  keen  interest  in,  and  thor- 
ough understanding  of,  the  problems  connected  with 
Arctic  research.     He  took  especial  pains  to  acquire  and 


JVAAS/iJV  A'J'  JIOMJ:    AND   AJiA'OAD  201 

communicate  a  scientific  insi^lit  into  the  physical  con- 
formation and  conditions  of  Greenland;  and  he  has  clearly 
a  no  less  enlightened  sense  of  the  scientific  significance 
of  jiolar  exploration." 

What  especially  occupied  him  in  these  years  was  the 
preparations  for  the  Polar  Expedition.  The  equipment 
involved  an  immense  expenditure  of  thought  —  from  the 
construction  of  the  ship  to  the  minutest  detail  of  the  com- 
missariat. Even  the  selection  of  the  crew  must  ha\e 
meant  a  great  deal  of  corresj^ondence  —  n(j  fewer  than 
150  foreigners  applied  for  leave  to  join  the  expedition. 
The  list  is  headed  by  Englishmen  and  Americans,  then 
come  Germans,  Danes,  Swedes  and  Finns,  Italians  and 
Frenchmen,  etc.  The  labor  was  enormous.  luerything 
had  to  pass  through  kis  head,  every  one  of  the  thousand 
details.  Compared  with  this  mental  toil,  the  labor  of 
dragging  the  sledges  over  the  Greenland  ice  fields  was 
little  more  than  child's  play.  It  engrossed  him  day  and 
night,  and  encroached  terribly  on  the  few  hours  that  were 
left  for  his  home  and  his  famil}-.  The  strain  upon  his 
vital  force  was  incomparably  greater  than  in  any  of  his 
previous  efforts. 

In  the  beginning  of  1892  he  again  set  forth  on  a  lectur- 
ing tour,  this  time  in  England,  the  profits  going  to  the 
expedition  fund.  He  spoke  in  London  and  in  the  other 
great  towns  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  visiting 
Lixerpool,  Manchester,  Sheffield,  iiirmingham.  Hull,  New- 
castle, Edinburgh,  Belfast,  Dublin,  Bristol,  and  man\-  other 
places. 

"  His  lectures,"  writes  a  friend  in  I^ngland.  "  were  highly 
appreciated  and  made  a  great  success.  His  mastery  of 
the  Ensflish  lanc:ua2:e  was  remarkable,     lie  made  iiimself 


,o2  X.IXSE.y  IX  THE  FROZEX  WORLD 

thoroughly  heard  and  understood.  Of  course  lie  read  his 
adclresres;  but  to  my  thinking  his  speaking  was  most 
effective  when,  at  the  end  of  his  last  lecture  before  the 
Royal  Geographical  Society,  he  laid  liis  manuscript  aside. 
It  was,  in  a  sense,  a  farewell  to  England,  inspired  by  a 
depth  of  feeling  which  stirred  his  audience  to  enthusiasm. 
I  can  assure  you  that  when  Nansen  returns,  a  magnificent 
reception  awaits  him  in  this  country." 

Late  in  the  autumn  of  this  year  his  sliip  was  launched. 

*'  A  whole  troop  of  invited  guests,"  writes  Gustaf  Ret- 
zius,  in  the  "  Aftonblad  "  for  November  3,  1S92,  "  took  the 
morning  train  on  October  26,  from  Christiania  to  Laurxik. 
There  had  been  ten  degrees  of  frost  in  the  night ;  snow 
had  fallen,  and  a  thin  white  veil  lay  over  hill  and  valley. 
Gradually  the  mists  dispersed,  and  the  morning  sun  shone 
out  with  the  peculiar  softened  splendor  characteristic  of 
a  clear  winter  day.  Nansen  liimself  receives  us  at  Laurvik 
station,  and  leads  us  to  a  whale-ljoat,  lying  at  the  pier, 
with  a  crow's-nest  at  its  foretop.  It  carries  us  down  the 
fjord,  then  turns  to  the  left  and  runs  in  shore.  Here,  in 
Ra*kevik  Hay,  lies  tlie  hull  of  a  shi]),  shored  up  on  the 
beach,  with  its  stern  to  the  sea.  It  is  Fridtjof  Nansen's 
new  shij),  which  is  now  to  go  off  the  stocks.  The  hull  is 
high  and  broad,  black  below,  white  above.  The  three 
goodly  masts  of  American  pitch-pine  are  still  lying  along- 
side her  on  the  wharf.  Three  flagstaffs  have  been  erected 
on  the  deck,  two  with  flags,  the  one  in  the  middle  without. 
it  i>  reserved  for  the  j^ennant  bearing  the  ship's  as  yet 
unknown  name,  which  is  to  be  hoisted  after  the  christen- 
ing. There  are  many  sju-culations  as  to  what  the  name 
is  to  be.     I'eojjle  guess  Eva,  Lcif,  Norge,  and  No7'dpolcii. 

"  Thousands  of  spectators  have  gathered  around  Colin 


304  XAXSE.V  /.V  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

Archer's  wharf,  thousands  have  clambered  up  on  tlie 
rocks.  But  around  tlie  great  vessel  lying  shored  up  on 
the  slips  stand  groups  of  sturdy  figures  in  working  clothes, 
with  grizzled  hair  and  furrowed  features,  carefully  examin- 
ing her  lines  and  build.  These  are  whalers  and  seal-hunt- 
ers who  ha\e  year  after  year  braved  the  dangers  of  the 
Polar  Sea.  There  are  also  many  workmen  among  them, 
ship's-carpenters  who  have  helped  in  the  building,  and 
who  now  regard  their  work  with  just  satisfaction.  But  the 
master  builder  is  the  stately  man  w  ith  the  serious  refined 
features  and  the  long  white  beard.     It  is  Colin  Archer. 

"  Fridtjof  Nansen,  followed  by  his  wife,  now  mounts  a 
platform  erected  close  to  the  vessel's  bows.  Mrs.  Nansen 
steps  forward,  breaks  a  champagne  bottle  against  the  stem 
at  one  strong  blow,  and  says  loud  and  clear:  '  Fi-arn  skal 
den  licde^  —  'She  shall  be  called  iM-am.' ^  At  the  same 
moment  the  flag  is  hoisted  on  the  unoccupied  flagstaff, 
and  the  word  can  be  read  in  white  letters  upon  a  red 
ground.  The  last  moorings  are  now  quickly  cast  off,  the 
last  supjiorts  knocked  away,  and  the  great  vessel  glides, 
at  first  slowly,  then  quicker  and  quicker,  stern-foremost, 
down  the  sharjDly  sloping  groove  which  leads  to  the  water. 
It  j)lunges  deeper  and  deeper.  For  a  moment  it  almost 
seems  as  though  it  were  going  to  sink,  or  at  any  rate  to 
strike  the  bottom.  But  as  the  stem  approaches  the  water 
the  stern  rises,  and  finally  the  whole  vessel  floats  away,  to 
be  brought  back  in  a  few  minutes,  laid  alongside  the 
wharf,  and  there  moored.  At  the  moment  when  the 
whole  bulk  of  the  ship  had  taken  the  water,  a  great  wave 
swept  shoreward  and  washed  over  the  rocks  and  over  the 
onlookers  who  had  ]K'rched  themselves  close  to  the  sea. 

'  I'ram  ^=  Forwards. 


NANSEN  AT  //OAf/':   AXl)   AJiROAD  205 

Wc  could  SL'C  ihcm  from  the  dislancc  scrambling;  like  wet 
llics  up  the  slippery  rocks.  A  large  boat  which  had  been 
swept  asliore  by  the  wave  was  with  difficulty  saved,  but 
without  misachenture. 

"On  the  platform,  by  his  wife's  side,  iM'idtjof  Nansen 
stood  tall  and  erect,  and  watched  the  scene.  All  eyes 
were  bent  upon  them.  We  could  not  but  think  what 
their  feclini^s  must  have  been  at  the  moment  when  the 
vessel  glided  into  the  sea:  feelings  of  gladness  that  the 
prologue  to  the  long  dark  drania  that  was  to  be  enacted 
in  the  polar  night  was  now  happily  concluded  ;  feelings 
of  pain  at  the  thought  of  the  long  separation  that  lay 
before  them. 

"  For  all  who  were  present,  it  was  a  moment  of  deep 
emotion  when,  amid  the  Ijooming  of  guns  and  the  thun- 
dering cheers  of  the  multitude,  the  Fram  ])lunged  into 
the  sea  and  rose  again  proudly  in  its  freedom.  Many 
w^ere  afterward  heard  to  say  that  it  was  one  of  the  most 
impressive  experiences  of  their  lives.  As  the  ship  glided 
forth  in  the  silvery  light  reflected  from  the  calm  surface 
of  the  sea,  we  seemed,  in  a  llash  of  foresight,  to  be  read- 
ing the  Saga  of  the  future.  We  seemed  to  glance  down 
the  vista  of  her  destiny,  to  see  her,  in  waters  no  keel  has 
yet  furrowed,  spreading  light  over  regions  no  eye  has  yet 
seen.  And  when  we  came  to  think  of  the  stern  realities 
which  must  one  day  surround  the  vessel  and  its  crew  on 
their  daring  quest,  the  cold,  the  darkness,  the  storms,  the 
icebergs,  and  all  that  follows  in  their  train,  we  could  not 
but  feel  a  touch  of  awe.  Hut  in  Fridtjof  Xansen's  serene, 
unembarrassed,  steadfast  glance,  there  was  no  trace  of 
doubt  or  anxiety.  He  has  the  faith  and  the  will-i)ower 
that  can  move  mcumtains." 


2o6  .\'./.\'^'A,\'  A^'   THE  FROZEX    WORLD 

Colin  Archer,  llie  builder  of  the  Fram,  belongs  to  a 
Scotch  family.  His  name  is  widely  known  and  highly 
rcs|x'Cted  in  Norway.  "  ll  is  not  many  years  since  our 
pilot  boats  were  sadly  deficient  in  point  both  of  speed  and 
of  safety.  They  were  neither  well  built  nor  well  designed 
for  tlK'  work  they  had  to  do,  so  that  it  frequently  hap- 
jxMied  that  tlie  boat  went  down  and  took  the  pilot  with  it. 
Mr.  Archer  devoted  himself  to  the  task  of  furnishing  our 
pilots  with  a  faster  and  safer  sea-boat.  After  more  than 
twenty  years'  work,  he  has  met  with  such  success  that 
the  pilot  can  now  face  almost  any  weather  in  one  of  his 
boats,  and  tliat  those  he  leaves  at  home  need  no  longer 
tremble  and  turn  pale  when  the  surf  is  lashing  and  the 
stomi  sweeping  over  the  sea." 

In  a  speech  which  he  made  that  day,  Mr.  Archer  said 
that  he  would  never  have  been  able  to  solve  this  peculiar 
problem,  so  unlike  any  that  he  had  hitherto  attempted, 
if  N'ansen  himself  had  not  furnished  him  with  the  key; 
it  was  Nansen's  constructive  sense  that  had  throughout 
pointed  the  way.  But  Nansen  had  no  less  right  on  his 
side  when  he  praised  Colin  Archer's  talent,  and  expressed 
the  belief  that  never  before  had  a  shij)  been  built  for 
Arctic  work  with  any  approach  to  the  care  and  thought 
which  had  been  devoted  to  this  one.  Let  us  hope  that 
Colin  Archer's  most  noteworthy  "  pilot  boat,"  which  is  to 
pilot  humanity  through  ice-packed  channels  and  over  un- 
known waters,  may  stand  the  test  as  well  as  the  other 
"  Archer-boats,"  its  predecessors. 

The  Fram,  which  in  reality  somewhat  resembles  a  pilot 
boat,  is  specially  designed  to  jDlay  the  part  allotted  it  in 
Nansen's  general  scheme.  His  idea  is  not  to  burst  his 
way  by  force  through  masses  of  ice,  but  to   let  the  Fram 


NANSEN  J  J'  //().]//■:    .I.\7)   .I/IA'D.U)  207 

He  firmly  frozen  in  and  he  carried  forward  Ijy  the  current. 
It  is  not  a  fast  sldp,  then,  that  he  needs,  hut  a  vessel 
which  can  hear  an  immense  pressure  of  ice  without  heint; 
crushed.  It  had  to  he  so  designed  that  the  ice  should 
not  he  ahle  to  grip  its  sides  and  squeeze  them  together, 
but  should,  as  it  were,  wedge  itself  under  the  hull  and 
force  it  up  out  of  the  water.  For  this  reason  the  sides 
and  bottom  are  strongly  rounded.  In  order  to  secure 
the  greatest  possible  strength  the  ship  liad  to  be  as  small 
as  possible,  and  particularly  short  in  proportion  to  its 
breadth.  This  would  facilitate  both  the  raising  of  the 
hull  when  the  ice  got  packed  under  it,  and  the  handling 
of  the  vessel  among  the  floes  when  it  should  be  relea.sed 
from  its  ice-berth. 

The  Franis  length  on  deck  is  128  feet;  length  on 
water-line,  113  feet;  keel,  102  feet.  Her  extreme  breadth 
is  36  feet ;  breadth  at  water-line,  exclusive  of  ice-skin, 
34  feet;  depth,  17  feet.  W'hen  she  is  lightly  loaded,  the 
draft  of  water  is  12.}  feet.  The  keel,  which  is  14  inches 
by  14  inches,  American  elm,  ])rojects  only  3  inches  be- 
low the  planking,  and  its  edges  are  well  rounded.  The 
frames  are  double,  being  built  chiefly  of  Italian  oak,  ob- 
tained from  the  dockyards  at  Horten,  where  it  had  been 
stored  for  thirty  years.  The  lining  is  pitch-pine.  The 
outside  planking  consists  of  three  layers:  the  inner  one 
being  3  inches  oak,  the  middle  one  4  inches  oak,  and 
outside  all  an  ice-skin  of  greenheart,  increasing  in  thick- 
ness from  3  inches  at  the  keel  to  6  inches  at  the  water- 
line.  Both  bow  and  stern  arc  protected  by  a  covering 
of  iron  bars.  The  total  thickness  of  the  ship's  sides 
is  24  to  2S  inches,  and  their  jDower  of  resisting  pressure 
is  thus  very  considerable  ;  but  it  is  greatly  increased  by 


2oS  A\^ys/':x  jy  the  frozen  world 

powerful  beams  or  stays  of  wood  or  iron.  Tlie  liold 
is  divitled  into  three  water-tii^ht  compartments.  The 
structural  strength  of  the  Frani  is  thus  quite  exceptional. 
Never  before  has  a  vessel  been  so  fortified  against  the 
attacks  of  the  ice. 

During  these  years  of  toil  Nansen  enjoyed  breathing 
spaces,  when  he  gathered  his  friends  around  him.  These 
pleasant  interludes  in  his  work  will  never  be  forgotten  by 
those  who  took  }3art  in  them.  They  remember  the  din- 
ner when  all  the  painters  —  Werenskjbld,  Eilif  Peterssen, 
Skredsvig,  Munthe,  Sinding  —  gave  themselves  up  to 
high  jinks  without  beginning  or  end,  when  they  would 
on  no  account  listen  to  polite  speeches,  but  rushed  into 
the  kitchen  and  set  the  pump  going  whenever  any  one 
began.  Nansen  was  thoroughly  at  home  among  the  paint- 
ers—  he  himself  dabbled  a  little  in  their  handicraft,^  and, 
during  his  Bergen  days,  had  worked  in  the  studio  of  old 
Schiert/.  who  thought  he  had  the  makings  of  an  artist  in 
him. 

They  remember,  too,  that  Midsummer  Eve,  when 
Lammers  sang  of  the  hero  Roland,  and  Nansen  w^ent 
down  to  the  bonfire  and  piled  on  wood. 

By  way  of  exemplifying  the  hours  of  relaxation  in  the 
life  of  labor  de]Dicted  in  this  book,  one  of  the  authors 
will  note  down  his  recollections  of  a  luncheon  ])arty 
at  Nansen's  house,  the  day  after  tlie  launch  of  the  Fram. 

•  N.insen  draws  excellently;  all  the  plates  for  his  zoological,  anatomical, 
and  histolo);ical  essays  are  drawn  by  himself.  We  may  mention,  as  a  charac- 
tt-rintic  instance  of  his  enerj^y  in  every  department,  that  he  was  not  content 
with  himself  making  the  drawings  for  his  works,  but  also  learned  lithography, 
so  th.nt,  for  example,  the  plates  in  his  principal  essay  on  the  nervous  system 
are  drawn  on  the  .stone  with  his  own  hand. 


NANSEN  AT  HOME   AND   ABROAD  209 

It  had  rained  overnight,  so  that  the  roads  were  ankle- 
deep  in  autumn  mud.  Nansen  himself  met  us  at  the 
station  in  the  highest  of  si)irits. 

When  we  reached  his  house  (a  quarter  of  an  hour's 
walk  from  Lysaker  station)  it  was  raining-.  The  fjord 
stretched  before  us  dark  and  depressing,  the  gray  autumn 
sky  seemed  to  droop  disconsolate  among  the  pine  stems. 
But  in  Nansen's  study  branches  and  logs  were  crackling 
and  smouldering  cosily  upon  the  open  heartli. 

Here  everything  is  in  old  Norse  style.  Nansen  him- 
self, as  before  mentioned,  designed  the  furniture  of  light 
pine-wood,  beautifully  carved  with  dragon  arabesques. 
Over  the  high  seat  hangs  a  tapestry  of  an  antique  pat- 
tern. 

Luncheon  was  served  in  the  cosey  little  dining-room, 
and  merriment  was  the  order  of  the  day.  Full  justice 
w^as  done  to  one  dish  after  another ;  and  Nansen  is  not 
the  man  to  forget  to  season  the  viands  with  talk.  He 
was,  of  course,  still  full  of  memories  of  the  previous  day, 
and  one  incident  of  the  launch  after  another  was  related 
and  discussed.  Mrs.  Nansen  had  to  analyze  her  sensa- 
tions at  the  moment  when  she  broke  the  chami)agne 
bottle  acjainst  the  bow  and  said :  "  Fram  skal  den  liedc  !  " 
Some  one  else  related  how  Archer  was  seen  to  close  his 
eyes  when  the  ship  began  to  move;  and  so  forth. 

When  the  champagne  appeared.  Nansen  pro])osed 
Ret/ius's   health,   and    Ret/iu>   thus  ended    his  speech    in 

reply :  — 

"  This  is  a   delightful    home  of   yours,   Nansen,  and    I 

cannot  but  marvel   at  your  resolution   in   tearing  yourself 

away  from  it  to  set  forth  into  the  jiolar  winter,  and  brave 

an  unknown   fate.     Vou,  a  biologist,  have  the  sea  stretch- 

•  4 


2IO 


.y.iNS/ty  Av  r//E  frozen  world 


ing  Ix'fore  yi)ur  very  windows,  with  all  its  inexhaustible 
and  fa-scinating  treasures.  Here  you  are  in  the  midst  of 
all  your  old  friends,  the  marine  fauna  —  with  worms, 
inoilusks,  and  nuid-eels  at  your  beck  and  call.  We  scien- 
tists, who  so  highly  appreciate  Nansen  the  biologist  — 
the  man  who  has  successfully  steered  many  a  voyage  of 
exploration  over  the  unknown  depths  of  the  biological 
world,  and  especially  through  the  intricacies  of  the 
nervous  system  —  cannot  quite  reconcile  ourselves  to  the 
thought  that  you  are  deserting  this  field  of  labor  to  go  so 
far  and  to  be  absent  so  long. 

•'  But  you  ha\'e  yourself  determined  it,  you  have  decreed 
your  own  destiny. 

"  And  besides,  when  the  explorer  returns  from  his 
adventurous  voyage,  the  biologist  will  find  the  field  of 
investigation  as  rich  as  ever.     You  may  make  your  mind 

eas) we  who  are  left  at  home  will  not  reap  the  whole 

har\-est  —  there  will  be  plenty  left  for  you  to  do.  We  are 
as  yet  only  at  the  beginning  of  our  w^ork. 

"  There  is  only  one  thing  I  fear,  and  that  is  that 
I'Vidtjof  Nansen,  when  he  comes  back  from  the  North 
Pole,  will  discover  that  the  earth  has  a  South  Pole  as 
well." 

As  we  clink  glasses  and  drink  Nanscn's  health,  strange 
thoughts  fill  our  minds.  Who  knows  when  this  circle  of 
friends  may  meet  again  }  Not,  at  any  rate,  until  one  of 
them  shall  have  returned  from  afar. 

Nan.sen  is,  as  usual,  quiet  and  at  his  ease.  As  the  later 
courses  come  on,  we  get  him  to  tell  us  some  of  his  stories. 
lie  has  an  unusual  gift  of  oral,  no  less  than  of  written 
narrative  ;  he  describes  jjicturesquely,  with  powerful 
touches,  and,  on  occasion,  with  charming  humor.     P^irst 


ALINSEN  AT  HOME    AND   ABROAD 


21  I 


wc  get  liini  on  the  i)()hir  bears.  Then  some  one  asks 
about  the  time  when  lie  and  Mrs.  Nansen  climbed  Norc- 
fjeld  on  New  Year's  Eve. 

"Yes,  it  was   really   New  Year's   Eve;  it  was   in    1S90. 
Eva  and  I  had  gone  up  to  Kroderen  for  a  breath  of  fresh 


J^' 


'f^: 

*'/^ 


NANSEN    AND    MRS.    NANSEN    ON    SNOW -SHOES 

air.  and  we  made  u|)  our  minds  to  climl)  Norefjeld  —  to 
the  top  ..f  course.  We  slept  at  Olberg,  and  were  rather 
la/.y  in  the  morning,  ><>  that  it  was  about  ten  o'clock 
before  we  made  a  start.  And  we  didn't  hurry  at  all  at 
first,  so  that  the  day  slipped  on.  It  ".s  something  of  an 
ascent  even  in  summer;  but  in  winter,  when  the  days  arc 
short,  you  have  to  look  sharp  if  you  want  to  get  to  the 


sia 


NANS  EN  IN  THE  FROZEN   WORLD 


top  while  it  s  lii^ht.  And  then  we  had  taken  a  course  of 
our  own  —  well,  it  may  have  been  the  most  direct,  but  it 
certainly  was  n't  the  cjuickest.  The  snow  was  very  deep, 
and  we  had  n't  any  guide.  At  last  we  could  n't  possibly 
use  our  snow-shoes  any  longer  ;  it  got  so  steep  we  had  to 
take  them  off  and  carry  them.  But  we  were  bound  to  do 
it  all  the  same ;  you  can't  face  about  and  leave  a  thing 
half  done,  however  much  ice  and  frozen  snow  there  may 
be.  The  last  jMece  almost  beat  us ;  I  had  to  cut  our  way 
step  by  ste))  with  my  staff.  I  went  ahead,  Eva  followed. 
It  reminded  me  of  what  the  little  girl  wrote  in  her  school 
essay :  '  I'or  e\ery  step  we  went  forward,  we  went  two 
steps  back.     At  last  we  reached  the  top.' 

"  Well,  we  too  reached  the  top,  but  it  was  dark,  and  we 
had  been  at  it  from  ten  till  five  with  nothing  to  eat.  So 
now  we  set  to  and  ])icnicked  in  the  snow  and  the  pitchy 
darkness,  on  vtysost^  and  jjemmican  mixed." 

"  You  may  thank  heaven  we  don't  treat  you  to  that 
to-day,"  said  Mrs.  Nansen. 

"  Yes,  you  made  wry  faces  over  it,  Eva,"  growled  her 
husband,     "  But  it 's  all  a  matter  of  habit." 

We  lingered  over  our  walnuts  and  our  wine  while  Nan- 
sen  continued:  "Well,  there  we  two  sat  alone  in  the 
snow  at  the  top  of  Norefjeld,  something  like  5,000  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  frost-wind  nipj^ed  our 
checks,  the  darkness  grew  denser  and  denser.  Far  away 
in  the  west  there  lingered  a  very,  very  feeble  gleam  of  day, 
the  last  in  the  year.  We  had  to  sec  about  getting  down 
again. 

*'  We  struck  a  course  more  or  less  in  the  direction  of 
Eggcdal.     iM-om  Mbgevarde-  down  into  the  valley  is  per- 

'  Goat's  milk  cheese.  2  The  top  of  Norefjeld. 


NAxYSEN  AT  JJOMK  AND   AH  ROAD  213 

haps  about  a  Norwegian  mile,'  wliich  would  have  been 
nothing  at  all  if  it  had  been  light.  But  it  was  n't  so  easy 
to  find  our  way  in  the  darkness. 

"  Off  we  i)lunged  into  the  night,  I  ahead  and  Mva  fol- 
lowing. We  went  like  the  wind  over  rocks  and  slojjes, 
and  it  was  no  joke  to  keep  our  balance,  1  can  tell  you. 
When  you  Ve  been  out  in  the  dark  for  some  time,  a  sort 
of  dim  shimmer  seems  to  rise  from  the  snow  ;  you  can't 
call  it  light,  but  it  is  n't  absolute  darkness  either.  I  leaven 
knows  how  we  managed  to  get  along  sometimes,  but  man- 
a^re  we  did.  /\11  of  a  sudden  I  had  to  slop  short,  and 
shout  to  Eva.  It  was  too  steep  for  snow-shoes,  there  was 
nothing  for  it  but  to  sit  down  and  slide.  It  \s  not  good 
for  your  trousers,  but  it  's  safer  in  the  dark. 

"  The  wind  nipped  our  ears  till  they  tingled,  ff)r  it  was 
freezing  like  anything;  and  on  we  went.  Suddenly,  as 
we  were  going  at  full  speed,  my  hat  blew  off  —  a  little 
gray  hat  of  the  sort  I  usually  wear. 

"  So  I  had  to  put  the  brake  on,  and  get  to  my  legs  again. 
Far  up  I  saw  something  black  upon  the  snow,  scrambled 
up  to  it,  seized  it,  and  found  it  was  a  stone.  The  hat  must 
be  farther  back  —  yes,  tlicre  it  was.  Again  I  clutched  at 
a  stone.  Hats  seemed  to  swarm  all  over  the  snow;  but 
when  I  came  to  put  them  on  they  all  turned  to  stones. 
Stones  for  bread  may  be  bad  enough,  but  stones  for  hats 
are  not  a  whit  better.  There  was  nothing  for  it  but  to 
go  ahead  hatless. 

"  Eva  remained  where  I  had  left  her.  '  I^va  ! '  I  shouted, 
'  Eva !'     The  answer  came  from  far,  far  below. 

"  There  seemed  to  be  no  end  to  that  mile.  Hut  we 
managed  to  keej)  going  somehow ;  and  now  and   then  we 

*  Seven  English  miles. 


2,4  X.-IXS/i.V  /X  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

could  use  our  snow-shoes  too.  All  of  a  sudden  the  ground 
seemed  to  fall  away  at  our  feet;  we  stopped  at  the  verge 
of  a  precipitous  bank  —  how  high  it  was  we  could  n't  see, 
but  over  it  we  had  to  go,  one  first,  the  other  after.  The 
snow  was  deep,  and  when  that  is  so,  you  can  clear  incred- 
ible distances. 

'•  We  had  long  ago  lost  our  bearings,  if  we  had  ever  had 
any.  We  only  knew  that  we  must  go  ahead.  At  last  we 
came  to  a  dead  fix.  Eva  had  once  more  to  sit  and  wait 
while  I  cast  about  for  a  way.  I  went  groping  around  in 
the  darkness  and  was  a  long  time  gone.  All  of  a  sudden 
a  thought  .struck  me  :  suppose  she  were  to  fall  asleep! 
Such  things  have  been  known  to  happen,  and  she  must 
be  dead  tired.  '  Eva,  Eva ! '  I  shouted.  'Yes!'  she  an- 
swered right  enough,  but  this  time  from  far,  far  above.  If 
she  had  fallen  asleep  I  don't  know  that  I  could  ever  have 
found  her  again.  As  it  was  I  groped  my  way  up  to  her, 
briniiinir  with  me  the  irood  news  that  I  had  found  a  water- 
course.  I  won't  say  that  a  watercourse  is  the  best  possi- 
ble snow-shoe  course,  especially  in  pitchy  darkness,  when 
your  stomach  is  empty  and  your  conscience  ill  at  ease  — 
for  this  was  really  a  reckless  piece  of  work.  But  some- 
how or  other  we  did  contrive  to  make  our  way  clown  the 
watercourse. 

"  Now  we  were  amonsr  the  birch-trees,  and  at  last  we 
struck  ui)on  a  road.  So  the  worst  was  over.  Far  down, 
we  came  uj)on  a  hut.  I  thought  it  looked  cosey  enough, 
but  Eva  said  it  was  dirty  and  horrid.  And  now  she  was 
quite  lively;  she  was  determined  to  push  on.  Just  like  a 
woman. 

"  To  make  a  long  story  short,  we  at  last  reached  the 
|)arish  clerk's  house  in  Eggedal.     It  was  now  late  at  night. 


HANSEN  AT  HOME   AND   AJUWAJJ  215 

SO  we  had  to  wake  the  people  up.  The  jDarish  clerk  was 
quite  frightened  when  he  heard  we  had  come  from  the  tojj 
of  Norefjeld. 

"  This  time  Eva  was  not  so  ])articular  about  her  nighlV 
lodging.  She  had  no  sooner  sat  down  in  a  rliair  lluin  ^lu- 
fell  asleep;  it  was  twelve  at  night,  and  she  had  been  (»n 
her  feet  for  fourteen  hours. 

'"  He's  quite  worn  out,  i)oor  boy,'  said  the  })arish  clerk  ; 
for  Kva  was  wearing  a  gray  snow-shoeing  dress,  with  a 
short  skirt  and  trousers. 

"  '  It  is  my  wife,'  said  I. 

"  You  should  have  heard  the  exclamations.  '  Oh  Lord, 
oh  Lord,  you  don't  mean  to  say  so  !  Think  of  dragging 
your  wife  with  you  over  the  top  of  Norefjeld  on  New- 
Year's  Eve  !  ' 

"  But  now  came  supper  —  and  as  soon  as  she  smelletl 
that  it  was  not  mysosf  and  pemmican  she  wakened  up. 

"  It  ended  in  our  resting  three  days  at  the  parish  clerk's 
—  and  that  was  our  New  Year's  lue  ascent  of  Norefjeld. 
I  thought  it  great  fun  ;  but  I  don't  know  what  Iiva  would 
say. 

"  When  we  left  Eggedal  the  poor  boy  and  I  dro\e  down 
Numedal  to  Kongsberg,  and  the  bo}'  was  almost  fro/en  to 
death. 

"  P)ut  one  has  to  go  through  a  little  hardshij:)  now  and 
then  to  enjoy  life  j^roperly  after  it.  If  you  don't  know 
what  cold  is,  neither  do  you  know  what  it  is  to  be  warm." 

The  time  draws  on  for  the  great  departure.  The  sum- 
mer of  1S93  has  come.  In  the  evenings,  while  his  secre- 
tary is  writing  at  full  speed,  and  Nansen  is  walking  up 
and   down  directing  and  dictating,  he  will   suddenly  slij) 


,,6  NANSE.V  IN  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

out  and  appear  on  the  slope  in  front  of  the  house.  Here 
planting  is  going  on  -  gooseberry  and  currant  bushes, 
apple  and  pear  trees.  Nanscn  himself  ponits  out  to  the 
crardener  where  every  tree,  every  bush  is  to  stand.  "  It  will 
be  splendid  soil,"  says  the  man,  as  he  fills  the  holes  with 
mould  mixed  with  seaweed.  "Oh  yes,  I  hope  they  '11  grow," 
says  Nansen.  The  evening  sun  throws  long  shadows 
from  the  great  pine  stents  in  front  of  the  house,  the  waves 
wash  softl)-,  in  a  long  slow  swell,  against  the  beach.  The 
nurse  comes  out  of  the  house  carrying  little  Liv,  who  is  to 
be  put  to  bed. 

How  long  will  be  the  shadows  cast  by  these  bushes  and 
trees  before  he  comes  back .?  How  many  evenings  will 
the  sun  disappear  behind  the  ridge,  before  current  and 
wind  and  wave  bring  his  ship  home  again  ?  Evening  after 
evening,  month  after  month,  year  after  year ! 

On  Midsummer  Day  the  Fram  lies  at  Pipervik  ready 
to  start.  Only  a  small  group  of  Christiania  people  have 
gathered  to  stare  at  the  clumsy-looking  ship,  which  still 
lies  at  its  berth  long  after  the  time  appointed  for  the  start. 

So  slight  is  the  notice  taken  of  an  achievement  in  the 
bud.  When  he  comes  back  again,  all  Christiania  will  turn 
out  to  receive  him.  But  men  are  always  so.  As  though 
it  were  nothing  to  conceive  this  great  design,  to  take  this 
immense  responsibility,  to  bear  all  burdens  until  you  are 
ready  to  drop  under  them  —  and  to  stand  erect  on  the 
quarter-deck  and  take  your  life  in  your  hands.  There 
were  not  many  that  day  who  remembered  the  old  saying 
which  had  been  cited  at  Raekevik  when  the  Fram  was 
launched  :  "  Magnos  homines  virtute  metimur^  non  for- 
tnnar  (We  judge  great  men  by  their  virtue,  not  by  their 
luck.) 


NAJvSEN  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD  217 

But  among  those  who  had  gathered  to  see  Nansen  off 
were  many  members  of  the  Storthing.  By  two  resolu- 
tions, which  must  be  reckoned  to  the  credit  of  so  small  a 
people,  the  Storthing  had  contributed  a  sum  of  about 
$75,ocx)  to  the  expenses  of  the  expedition.  To^ia}'  it  had 
adjourned  in  order  to  bid  farewell  to  its  leader.  But 
Nansen  had  not  been  informed  of  this,  and  had  not  yet 
come  on  board.  The  members  of  the  Storthing  waited 
for  hours,  and  at  last  could  wait  no  longer- 
Even  at  the  last  moment  there  were  details  of  business 
that  Nansen  had  to  attend  to.  The  whole  morning 
passed,  and  he  had  had  scarcely  a  moment  to  exchange 
a  word  with  his  ^"ife.  The  farewell  ^^-as  of  the  shortest 
When  he  came  downstairs,  httle  Liv  was  brought  to  him 
smiling.     He  took  the  child  in  his  arms :  "  Ah  3es,  you 

laugh,  Liv,  but  I !  "     He  sobbed. 

Then  he  jumped  into  the  little  petroleum  launch, 
steamed  up  the  fjord,  boarded  the  Fram,  taking  no  notice 
of  any  one,  went  up  to  the  bridge,  and  gave  ordere  for  the 
start  Those  who  saw  his  face  at  that  moment  will  never 
forget  it 

One  picture  from  his  story  of  that  New  Year's  Eve  ex- 
pedition has  often  risen  before  our  minds  during  these 
years  of  waiting.  She  sits  alone  upon  the  mountain,  and 
gazes  forth  into  the  impenetrable  darkness,  so  long,  so 
long.  Then  a  voice  is  heard  from  far  off  on  the  snow- 
field.     He  is  there !     He  is  coming ! 


CHAPTER    XII 

0\    HOARD    TIIK    "  FRAM  " 

The  wind  liad  been  right  aliead  the  whole  day,  writes 
Professor  W.  C.  Hrogger,  ever  since  we  started  from 
Landegode.  We  had  first  made  a  tack  under  full  sail 
right  across  the  X'estfjord  toward  IMoskena^s  Island,  and 
had  now  put  about,  and  were  heading  straight  for  the 
passage  southeast  of  Skraaven. 

The  steady  fresh  breeze  had  swept  the  sky  clean,  and 
lifted  the  sea  into  f()ani-to})i)ed  waves  which  plashed 
monotonously  against  the  broad  bow  of  the  Fram,  as  she 
ploughed  her  way  through  them,  as  heavy  as  an  old 
Dutch  galliot  and  as  steady  as  a  rock. 

Up  on  the  bridge  the  ])ilot,  Haagenscn,  was  pacing  to 
and  fro  in  sturd\'  securitv,  now  and  then  shouting  an 
order  to  the  man  at  the  wheel  in  his  homely  Nordland 
dialect,  P)iit  the  fairwax'  was  at  this  ])oint  so  clear  that 
there  was  not  very  much  for  a  ])il()t  to  do  —  a  wide  chan- 
nel in  front,  and  a  steady  wind  blowing,  hour  after  hour. 

At  the  end  of  the  bridge  Nansen  had  rigged  u}^  for 
himself  an  open-air  studio  —  an  easel  and  a  few  boxes  of 
pastel  colors  —  and  here  he  sat  the  whole  evening,  and 
well  on  into  the  night,  in  his  vellow-gray  silk  mackintosh, 
heedless  of  the  cold  wind  (which,  however,  was  gradually 
dropping),  dabbing  on  colors,  and  smudging  with  his  fin- 
ger-tijis  on  the  sandpaper,  so  intently  and  indefatigably 
that  he  rubbed  the  skin  off.     The  blood  trickled  from  the 


ON  BOARD    11  IF.    '' FA\l.]r'' 


-■'9 


THE    "  FKA.M  "   IN    bEKUKN 


abrasion,  and  made  a  Inroad   red   stripe  down   tlie  sk\-  of 
his  landscape. 

And  the  landscape  the  Fram  was  passing  was  indeed 
worth  painting  in  its  sunset  radiance.  No  pen  could 
possibly  draw  a  true  picture  of  its  ever-changing  splendor 
of  form  and  hue. 


„o  jV.I.VSJCA'  /.V  T//£    FROZEX   WORLD 

Hastward.  illumined  by  the  reflection  of  the  sinking 
sun.  rose  the  whole  mighty  array  of  the  crests,  and  peaks, 
and  summits  of  the  mainland ;  wliile  to  the  west,  the  end- 
less snow-flecked  Lofoten-Wall  loomed  dark  and  threat- 
ening, a  chain  of  Alps  springing  right  up  from  the  sea. 
The  sun  was  so  low  that  the  island  mountains  lay  en- 
tirely in  the  shadow,  dark  purple  silhouettes  against  the 
marvellously  soft  and  shifting  colors  of  the  evening  sky. 

Over  the  highest  peaks  hung  heavy  grayish  white 
masses  of  cloud,  now  melting  into  the  strips  of  snow% 
which  formed  a  delicate  lace-like  collar  around  the  shoul- 
ders of  X'aagekallen,  now  transpierced  by  the  smouldering 
glow  of  the  evening  sun,  which,  down  toward  Moskenaes 
Island,  formed  a  continuous  broad  band  of  gold  over  the 
low-lying  banks  of  mist,  like  the  reflection  of  a  sea  of  fire 
in  the  far  distance. 

Above  our  heads  stretched  the  pale  evening  sky, 
toning  off  into  greenish  blue  and  the  most  delicate  rose- 
pink,  so  cloudless,  and  bright,  and  pure,  that  it  seemed 
as  though  Heaven  had  specially  willed  that  Nansen  and 
his  comrades  should  see  our  land  at  its  very  loveliest, 
without  stain  or  flaw,  before  they  bade  it  farewell.  And 
beneath  us  leajjed  the  glorious  sea,  still  crisping  into 
foam-crests  that  shone  white  on  the  dark  blue  ground  — 
our  forefathers'  royal  road  to  "  fame  and  might,"  ^  the  road 
on  which  the  Fram  was  now  covering  the  first  stages  of 
her  way  to  immortality. 

The  Fram  plodded  doggedly  on  tow^ard  Skraaven. 
Hour  after  hour  the  strange  sharp  peak  stood  out  right 
ahead  of  us,  seeming  always  to  recede  as  we   advanced. 

'  An  allusion  to  tlic  Danish  national  song,  Koiii^  Christian  stod  ved  hojcn 
Mast. 


ON  BOARD    THE   ''FRAM''  221 

The  Fraw,  as  we  know,  does  not  })retend  to  be  a  elipper. 
She  has  no  occasion  for  speed,  she  has  the  years  before 
lier.  Rit^lit  you  are,  Frain  !  Slow  and  sure  wins  in  the 
^z\\(\.     Chi  va  piano  va  sano,  chi  v a  forte  va  171  viortc. 

The  Fram  was  now  comparatively  trim  and  shijj-shape; 
Sverdrup  himself  had  superintended  the  cleaning  process, 
and  worked  the  hose  the  whole  afternoon,  while  Gjertsen 
followed  him  with  the  mop,  and  whole  rivers  of  water 
poured  through  the  scuppers,  carrying  with  them  all 
superfluities.  I  should  not  like  to  swear  that  they  did 
not  now  and  then  squirt  a  drop  or  two  among  Nansen's 
pastels,  when  they  happened  to  pass  under  the  bridge ; 
but  it  could  not  be  helped  —  the  Fram  had  to  bestir  her- 
self in  order  to  look  presentable  when  she  got  to  Tromso, 
and  a  daily  scouring  was  necessary  to  remove  all  traces 
of  the  coal-shifting  operations  in  Nx'rosund. 

Now  the  coal  was  finally  stowed  away  in  the  hold,  and 
the  greater  part  of  the  dried  fish  cleared  from  the  deck 
both  fore  and  aft,  so  that  the  ship  began  to  look  fairlv 
habitable  again.  This  clearing  up  had  cost  a  good  deal 
of  trouble,  for  the  crew^  was  small,  and  things  were  not 
yet  quite  in  working  order.  The  chief  difficulty  lay  in 
the  fact  that  the  cargo  was  so  exceedingly  heterogeneous. 
It  is  not  so  easy  to  get  everything  into  order  when  an 
exact  account  has  to  be  kept  of  where  all  the  innumer- 
able articles  are  stowed,  so  that  they  may  always  be  at 
hand  when  needed,  perhaps  in  the  moment  of  danger. 
Thus  every  one  had  his  own  department  to  attend  to  in 
addition  to  the  general  work  of  the  shij),  and  the  average 
day  was  anything  but  a  holiday. 

Even  now,  one  or  two  had  not  yet  finished  their  day's 
work.     The    first    mate    was    busy    carpentering.     Little 


:22  \.^XS£X  I.y  THE   FROZEN  WORLD 

Scott  Han>cn  was  every  one's  favorite;  although  a  mere 
buy  to  iiiulcrtake  such  a  voyage,  — he  was  only  twenty- 
five,— he  did  hi.s  man's  work  with  the  best  of  them.  He 
was  always  in  good  humor,  always  friendly  and  pleasant 
to  every  one;  but  his  eyes  would  beam  with  affection 
when  they  fell  u])on  the  barometers  and  chronometers 
and  all  his  other  dear  instruments  up  in  the  chart-room, 
which  had  been  placed  under  his  care.  He  was  to  be 
both  astronomer  and  meteorologist  —  and  first  mate  into 
the  bargain,  and  a  little  of  everything  else.  He  was 
expecting  to  meet  Professor  Mohn  next  day  up  at  Lodin- 
gen,  and  was  consequently  very  busy  putting  together  a 
cage  for  his  thermometers,  planing  and  nailing  away  until 
far  on  in  the  evening. 

There  was  not  much  room  on  the  deck  of  the  Fram ; 
indeed,  there  was  scarcely  a  s]X)t  tliat  was  not  cumbered 
with  deck  cargo  of  all  sorts.  Almost  the  whole  space  for- 
ward was  taken  up  with  the  supports  for  the  longboats, 
and  the  superstructures  over  the  hold,  to  say  nothing  of 
an  immense  number  of  odds  and  ends,  such  as  a  huge  pair 
(»f  bellows,  a  spare  crow's-nest,  a  great  tool-chest,  etc. 
But  aft  it  was  even  worse  —  what  with  a  stack  of  timber 
(planks,  beams,  etc.),  a  number  of  large  beer-barrels  (a 
steadily  diminishing  number,  it  must  be  admitted),  the 
huge  spare  rudder  and  spare  propeller,  several  parts  of  the 
great  windmill  for  generating  electricity  when  the  coal  is 
exhausted,  caj)acious  tanks  for  petroleum  and  gas  oil,  one 
of  the  boats,  and  finally,  under  the  bridge,  a  whole  pile  of 
dried  fish  to  feed  the  dogs  who  were  to  be  taken  on  board 
at  Yugor  .Strait. 

Around  the  wheel,  however,  was  a  small  open  space 
built   in  with  deck  cargo,  where  one   could   actually  put 


ON  noARj^  Tin-:  -FA'.Dr'  233 

one's  fool  on  llu'  deck  and  sit  co.sily  .shclk'ix'd  from  the 
wind.  This  was  the  favorite  evening  rende/Aous  of  those 
who  liad  time  to  spare  for  a  smoke  and  a  cliat. 

Here  we  sat  this  evening  in  the  twih<;ht,  wliile  the 
Fram  buffeted  its  way  through  the  seas  under  the  Lofo- 
ten-Wall—  Hendriksen,  Gjertsen,  Jacobscn,  Cliristiansen 
(one  of  the  Greenland  part)),  and  I.  The  pijjes  were  in 
full  blast  and  the  talk  in  full  swing. 

Jacobsen  was  a  capital  narrator,  when  you  could  work 
him  up  to  the  point,  which  was  not  every  da\-.  lie  had 
seen  a  great  deal  of  the  world  between  the  South  Pole 
and  the  North,  and  had  an  unusually  rich  stock  of  e.\j)e- 
riences  to  draw  upon.  Whether  he  was  recounting  his 
adxentures  among  the  Maories  of  New  Zealand  or  among 
the  ice  floes  of  Nova  Zembla,  he  always  managed  to  put 
an  extraordinary  amount  of  life  into  the  situation,  and  to 
transport  his  hearers  into  the  thick  of  it.  This  evening 
he  was  telling  the  story  of  his  j^olar-bear  hunts,  with  one 
of  the  Hourbon  i)rinces,  on  Spitzbergen,  and  he  graphi- 
cally depicted  for  us  all  the  manners  and  customs  of  the 
polar  bear,  its  spirit  of  iliquiry  and  its  clumsy  cunning.  I 
have  since  read  somewhere  that  at  parting  the  j^rince  j^re- 
sented  him  with  his  own  gold  watch  ;  of  that  he  saitl 
nothing,  and  I  saw  nothing  of  it  while  I  was  on  board  the 
Fram. 

Polar  bears  being  the  topic,  first  one  and  then  another 
contributed  something  of  his  own  e\i)eriences. 

"  How  many  bears  have  you  shot,  Hendriksen,  roughly 
speaking  .^  "  asks  the  mate. 

I  lendriksen  was  a  Palsfjord  man  ;  the  sha|)e  of  his  fore- 
head, his  ])road  cheek  bones,  and  the  whole  tvi)e  of  his 
physiognomy  seemed  to  indicate  that  he  had  OuaMi  blood 


aJ4 


iVAXSEN  IX  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 


in  his  veins.  Be  this  as  it  may,  he  was  a  good-natured 
and  genial  fellow,  and  one  who  could  jnit  his  shoulder  to 
the  wheel  to  some  puq^ose  when  strength  was  needed. 
He  had  now  sailed  the  Arctic  Sea  in  every  direction  for 
fourteen  consecutive  seasons,  ever  since  he  was  nineteen  ; 

during  all  these  years  he  had 
never  felt  the  heat  of  summer, 
until  he  had  come  south  for 
a  short  time  to  help  in  fitting 
out  the  Fram. 

He  was  not  a  man  of  many 
words,  but  it  was  easy  to  see 
that  he  was  by  no  means 
yearning  to  repeat  his  expe- 
rience of  the  summer  tem- 
perature. He  was  one  of 
those  members  of  the  crew 
who  preferred  to  pass  the 
night  in  one  of  the  "  hotels  " 
on  deck,  either  in  the  Grand  Hotel  or  in  Gravesen's  —  so 
they  had  christened  the  two  longboats.  It  is  true  that 
these  boats  were  deeply  padded  with  all  sorts  of  pack- 
ages of  furs,  so  that  you  could  no  doubt  make  yourself 
a  comfortable  enough  bed  among  them,  when  once  you 
had  wormed  your  way  down  through  the  layers  of  hand- 
sledges,  snow-shoes,  kaiaks,  and  other  Arctic  appliances 
which  were  ])iled  up  in  these  airy  hanging  hotels  a  la 
Scmiramis. 

"  I  've  never  kept  count  of  them,"  answered  the  giant 
evasively. 

*'  I  dare  say  you  may  put  it  at  fifty  at  least,"  said  the 
mate. 


(NaDKo'i  «olr  companion  on  his  sledi;c  expe 
dilion  after  leaving  the  "  Fram  ") 


ON  BOARD    TJIK   'TRAM''  225 

"Oh  no!  j)crhaps  something  Hkc  forty  —  white  bears, 
1  mean,"  he  added,  as  though  a  mere  white  bear  were 
scarcely  worth  speaking  about. 

"  Have  any  of  you  shot  brown  l^ears  then  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Yes,  Mogstad  has  killed  several,"  rejilied  the  mate. 
"  The  first  one,  he  had  another  man  to  help  him,  but  that 
was  when  he  was  only  sixteen.  Plve  or  six  years  after- 
ward he  ke{)t  a  bear  barricaded  in  his  lair  for  a  whole 
month,  and  then  let  him  out,  and  put  a  bullet  in  him  as 
he  ran.  Oh,  he  's  a  rare  hand  at  all  sorts  of  things,  is 
Mogstad  —  you  won't  easily  find  him  at  a  loss." 

"  But  Sverdrup  has  shot  brown  bears  too !  "  remarked 
Christiansen,  who  was  now  at  the  wheel  and  had  hitherto 
not  opened  his  mouth.  1  le  and  Sverdrup  were  both 
Bindal  men,  so  he  felt  he  must  stand  up  for  his  district; 
as  a  rule  it  was  not  easy  to  get  a  word  out  of  him.  Me 
was  evidently  suffering  agonies  of  indecision  as  to 
v.'hether  he  should  go  on  with  the  ship  or  not,  although 
he  had  declared  in  advance  that  he  would  go  no  fartlier 
than  Tromsb.  Not  that  the  Greenland  trip  had  fright- 
ened him  off  —  it  was  other  hindrances  that  stood  in  his 
way. 

Sverdrup  had  now  relieved  the  ])ilot,  and  was  pacing 
backward  and  forward  on  the  bridge,  with  an  even,  slow 
step.  The  Fram  and  he  are  in  reality  not  unlike  each 
other;  the  same  indescribable  air  of  solidity  and  security 
breathes  around  them  l^oth.  I^ach  has  a  \ery  thick  outer 
hull,  but  within  all  is  snug  and  warm  and  >(HUk1.  Now 
and  again  he  stops  beside  Nansen,  and  watches  him  min- 
gling the  colors  on  his  paper,  but  as  a  rule  says  nothing 
and  resumes  his  walk,  casting  quirk  si-arching  glances 
ahead  over  the  sea. 
IS 


«6  AUXSE.V  /.V  THE   FROZEN   WORLD 

Whoever  has  seen  Sverdrup  on  board  the  Fram  knows 
well  that  lie  is  the  right  man  in  the  right  place.  Tlie 
Fram  is  no  luxurious  pleasure-yacht,  nor  is  Sverdrup  a 
model  of  courtly  elegance  —  but  you  may  be  sure  that 

Afloat  "twixt  sky  and  sea, 
The  first  of  men  is  he. 

About  the  wheel  the  talk  went  merrily,  undisturbed  by 
wind  or  weather.  The  waves  kept  on  gurgling  up  into 
the  rudder  hole,  which,  besides  fulfilling  its  original  pur- 
|X)se,  served  as  a  gigantic  spittoon.  Now  and  again  an 
extra  puff  of  wind  would  come,  and  the  rigging  would 
creak  as  the  sails  tightened  ;  while  the  throb  of  the  pis- 
tons in  the  engine-room  supplied  a  monotonous  accom- 
paniment. Behind  the  pile  of  planks  and  the  boat  which 
shut  us  oiT  from  the  bulwarks,  we  could  hear  Kvik,  the 
Greenland  dog,  snoring  and  growling  in  his  sleep,  keep- 
ing up  a  sort  of  nuirnuir  of  contentment,  now  and  then 
interrupted  by  a  short  bark. 

"That  confounded  cur!"  said  the  mate.  "What  do  you 
think  he  's  done  to-day.?  Eaten  up  the  soles  of  a  pair  of 
bran  new  slippers  that  Amundsen  had  got  from  his  wife." 

Kvik  was  everybody's  favorite  on  board ;  but  he  had  an 
unfortunate  habit  of  devouring  whatever  he  came  across 
in  the  way  of  leather  or  skins,  without  the  smallest  re- 
spect of  persons.  Field-glass  straps  and  shoe-soles,  port- 
manteaus and  portfolios,  everything  that  was  made  of  an 
animal's  skin  was  for  him  a  dainty  scarcely  to  be  resisted, 
though  he  knew  that  indulgence  would  be  followed  by  a 
beating.  After  all,  he  had  to  lay  in  strength  for  the 
voyage.  Young  as  he  was,  he  had  seen  more  of  the 
world  than  most  dogs  or  men,  having  travelled  from  East 
Greenland   to   Copenhagen  with   the   Ryder   Expedition, 


ON  BOARD    rrfl']    ''  Fh'.\.\f''  221 

then  from  Copenhagen  to  Lysaker;  and  now  he  was  on 
his  way  froni  Lysaker  to  the  Polar  Sea. 

"  Amundsen  is  married,  is  lie  ?  "   I  asked. 

"  Why,  of  course  lie  is!  lie  's  the  most  married  of  the 
\\liole  lot  of  us.  lie  has  a  wife  and  six  ehildri'ii.  It's 
a  wonder  he  ran  lca\e  such  a  lot  at  home  for  so  long 
a  time." 

"  Has  he  been  north  before  }  " 

"  Yes,  he  was  out  sealing  with  the  Diana  one  season, 
and  then  last  year  he  went  to  the  Yenisei  with  a  cargo 
from  Shields.  Oh  yes,  he  s  quite  at  home  in  the  high 
latitudes,  he  is." 

"  Juell,  the  steward,  is  he  married  too.''  " 

"  Why  of  course  he  is  —  married  and  has  children,"  said 
Gjertsen.  "  That  fine  figure  of  a  woman  you  saw  on 
board  on  the  way  from   Christiania  to  I  lorten,  you   know 

—  that  's  his  wife.  She  's  been  a  lot  about  with  him,  too. 
A  few  years  ago  she  went  with  him  right  to  the  (iold 
Coast,  and  when  they  were  going  ashore,  Juell  thought  he 
should  never  see  his  wife  again  —  for  all  of  a  sudden  the 
boatmen,  the  ni2:G:ers  vou  know,  as  naked  as  niv  hand, 
took  and  seized  her  in  their  arms  and  jumjied  into  the 
water  with  her.  Juell  believed  he  'd  seen  the  last  of  her  ; 
for  you  know,  she's  uncommonly  jdIuuii)  and  appetizing, 
and  he  thought  no  doubt  they  were  cannibals,  these 
fellows." 

"  Then  a  great  many  of  you  are  married  ?  "  I  said. 

"Oh  yes,  we've  almost  all  got  some  one  to  leave  be- 
hind," answered  I  lendriksen.  "  Amundsen  heads  the  list, 
he  does,  for  he  has'five  or  six  children  ;  then  Nordal  Iia.s 
five,  Juell  and  I  have  four  ai:)iece,  and  then — let  me  see 

—  Pettcrson  has  two  I  think,  and " 


;3&  jV.-iXS£X  /X   THE    FROZEN   WORLD 

"  And  Nansen  and  I  have  one  apiece,"  added  the  mate. 

My  thoughts  flew  back  to  little  Liv,  and  I  turned  my 
head  and  saw  him  still  sitting  up  there  upon  the  bridge, 
busy  with  his  painting,  as  though  he  had  never  in  his  life 
done  anything  else.  He  had  taken  off  his  cap  in  order 
to  see  better,  and  was  shading  tlie  picture  with  his  arm 
or  lookinir  throuiih  the  hollow  of  his  hand  to  2:et  a  con- 
centrated  impression  of  the  color.  His  bust  stood  out 
boldly,  the  massive  head  with  the  short-clipped  hair  show- 
ing in  sharp  outline  against  the  indescribably  pure  and 
clear  colors  of  the  evening  sky.  Were  his  thoughts  bent 
on  his  distant  goal,  or  were  they  at  home  willi  little  Liv 
in  her  cradle  ? 

The  even  in  fj  air  beo^an  to  o^row^  chill,  so  I  rose  to  eo 
bel(jw  and  get  hold  of  my  greatcoat.  As  before  men- 
tioned, it  was  no  easy  matter  to  make  your  way  about  on 
the  deck  of  the  I-'raiii ;  so  I  remarked  jokingly,  "One 
would  need  either  four  legs  or  a  pair  of  wings  to  get 
about  among  all  this  litter." 

"  You  should  do  as  Johansen  did,"  answered  the  mate. 
"  He  walked  on  his  hands  the  other  day  up  the  steps  from 
the  fo'c'sle,  across  the  whole  of  the  forward  deck,  up  the 
steps  to  the  after  deck,  and  down  the  companion  into  the 
cabin  :  and  I  \w  bothered  if  he  was  even  red  in  the  face 
when  he  put  his  feet  down  again  upon  the  floor  of  the 
.saloon." 

"  Oh,  that 's  nothing  for  Johansen,  he 's  the  first  gym- 
nast in  Norway,"  remarked  Gjertsen.  "  In  Paris,  he 
made  a  clean  somersault  over  forty-two  men,  so  that  the 
I'rcnchmen  thought  there  would  be  nothing  but  a  wet 
spot  left  when  he  came  down.  But  he  fell  on  his  feet, 
as  ri'-hf  n^  possible.     He  got  a  gold  medal  for  that,  too  ! " 


ON  BOAKl)    77//':   '• /A'./.)/ "  229 

"  Amundsen  is  not  bad  at  that  sort  of  thing,  cither,  you 
know.  What  do  you  tliink  lie  did  the  other  day  down  at 
Rorvik,  while  we  were  loadini;  all  that  beastly  coal  ?  lie 
was  up  in  the  inain-to}^  and  wanted  to  C(jnie  down  to  the 
deck,  forward.  Confound  nie  if  he  did  n't  slide  down  the 
stay  from  the  main- top  to  the  fore-top,  holding  on  by  his 
hands  alone  all  the  way  !  There  is  n't  another  man  on 
board  could  have  done  it  ;  but  Amundsen's  fists  are  as 
hard  as  shoe  leather,  and  no  mistake.  And  then,  of 
course,  he  's  a  bit  lighter  than  I  am,  for  e\amj)le,"  said 
Gjertsen. 

I,  unable  to  emulate  either  of  these  feats,  made  my  way 
as  well  as  I  could  over  the  obstacles  that  bestrewed  the 
after  deck,  past  the  chart-room,  in  the  open  doorwa)-  of 
which  several  powder-casks  were  piled  up  drying,  and 
down  the  cabin  companion  —  a  journey  which,  if  it  did 
not  require  a  gymnast  of  the  hrst  rank,  was  certainly  not 
to  be  recommended  to  a  gouty  subject  or  a  fat  man. 

The  cabin  steps  went  right  past  the  galley,  where  Juell 
was  at  that  moment  dee]3  in  his  culinary  occujjations. 
A  tempting  smell  of  cooking  greeted  my  nostrils,  and  I 
looked  in  for  a  moment  to  warm  myself  a  little  and  have 
a  chat. 

Juell  stood  in  his  shirt-sleeves  busy  at  hi.s  work,  the 
perspiration  pouring  down  his  high  foreheatl,  and  his  heavy 
mustaches  droo})ing  like  a  bridle  from  the  corners  of  his 
mouth. 

"  Nice  and  warm  here,  juell,"  said  I. 

"  Warm  !  I  should  think  it  was  !  When  all  the  pots  arc 
boiling  for  dinner  I  believe  the  dexil  himself  would  singe 
his  nose  if  he  j^oked  it  in  here.  It  s  the  hardest  job  I  've 
ever  had   in   my  life.     I  've  made  many  a  voyage  in  my 


,3o  A.LVSEX  /X  TJIE  FROZEN  WORLD 

day,  but  this  is  the  first  time  I  Ve  sliippcd  as  cook,  and  if 
1  come  safe  and  sound  back  again,  it  shall  be  the  last 
time !  Take  my  advice,  Professor,  and  never  be  a  cook, 
whatever  you  are." 

"No,  no,  Juell  — we  can't  all  be  tailors,  you  know.     I 

don't  suppose  I  'm  in 
much  danger  of  re- 
ceiving an  appoint- 
ment as  chef.  But 
when  you  come  home 
again,  Juell,  I  hope  I 
shall  be  able  to  give 
I  you  a  dinner  and  say 
tak  for  sidst}  and 
thank  you  for  all 
'  the  2:ood  dinners  on 
board  the  Fram!' 

"  Thanks  for  the 
invitation,"  answered 
"  But  it  won't  be  for  some  time  yet,  I  'm  afraid.  If 
only  Feik  here  will  hold  out  till  we  come  back,  I  dare  say 
it  won't  be  such  a  bad  trijD  after  all." 

"  Peik  "  was  the  popular  name  for  an  insulated  cooking- 
ai)i)aratus,  of  k'inne's  invention,  a  great  contrivance  which 
held  the  warmth  very  long.  Nansen  took  a  lively  interest 
ill  it,  and  several  times,  while  I  w^as  on  board,  assisted  at 
the  cooking  of  the  dinner,  in  order  to  familiarize  himself 
with  the  working  of  Peik.  And  Peik  cooked  many  excel- 
lent things.  The  fare  on  board  the  Fram,  in  spite  of  Juell's 
a|)ologies  for  his  deficiencies  as  a  culinary  artist,  was  really 
capital  and  not  at  all  monotonous.     The  menu  generally 

'  "  Thanks  for  our  last  meeting  "  —  a  common  form  of  salutation. 


KirCltEN    OK   Tllli    "  KRAM 


Juell. 


ON  BOARD    THE   'TRAM''  231 

consisted  of  soup  or  fish,  and  a  dish  of  meat,  with  half  a 
bottle  of  beer  a  head,  so  long  as  the  beer  lasted.  I  re- 
member, for  instance,  that  the  first  dinner  I  ate  on  board 
consisted  of  tinned  fish-puddings  from  Stavanger,  tinned 
rabbit  from  Australia,  and  wild  ducks  which  Nansen  had 
shot  on  the  way.  A  great  variety  of  German  preserved 
vegetables  were  used  in  the  soups,  and  American  cran- 
berry jam  was  often  served  with  the  meat.  The  provision- 
ing of  the  ship,  like  all  the  rest  of  its  equipment,  was  most 
carefully  thought  out  in  all  its  details.  There  was  a  par- 
ticularly large  supply  of  vegetables  and  of  fatty  matter, 
so  that,  so  long  as  it  stuck  to  the  Fram,  the  expedition 
should  not  suffer  from  "  fat-hunger,"  as  the  Greenland 
explorers  had  suffered.  There  were  no  less  than  13,000 
lbs.  of  butter  on  board,  one  third  of  it  the  best  Danish 
butter,  and  the  rest  superfine  margarine,  a  present  from 
Pellerin  &  Co.  While  I  was  on  board  we  ate  nothing  but 
this  margarine  ;  it  was  of  such  excellent  quality  that  I  do 
not  think  any  one  would  have  taken  it  for  artificial  butter, 
unless  he  had  been  told. 

On  the  whole,  the  ship  was  lavishly  provisioned  ;  vou 
could  scarcely  name  a  thing  that  was  not  in  stock,  and 
generally  in  considerable  quantities.  One  thing,  however, 
was  entirely  absent,  and  that  was  alcohol — for  drink- 
ing, that  is  to  say.  The  spirits  for  preserving  "  speci- 
mens "  would  scarcely  come  under  the  heading  of  com- 
missariat. 

A  passing  steamer  in  Trondhjem  Fjord  had  thrown  us  a 
bottle  of  port  wine,  bidding  us  drink  it  at  the  North  Pole. 
This  was  —  with  the  excejDtion  of  the  beer,  which  was 
calculated  to  last  for  a  coui:)le  of  months  —  all  the  drink- 
able  alcohol   on   board.     "  You   must    lay   in   one   or   two 


23»  XANSEN  J\  J  HE  FROZEN   WORLD 

battles  of  champagne  in  Tromso,  Nansen,"  I  said  one  day 
in  a  joke.  "  to  drink  a  skaal  for  Gamlc  Norge,  when  )'oii 
hoist  your  Hag  on  the  axis  of  the  earth."  "  I  was  think- 
ing of  smuggling  on  board  one  or  two  bottles  of  brandy 
for  Christmas  Eve,"  he  answered;  "but  you  need  n't  speak 
about  it  to  the  men."  The  doctor  afterwards  swore  me 
to  secrecy,  and  told  me  that  he,  too,  intended  to  smuggle 
a  bottle  or  so  on  board  at  Tromso. 

I  can  see  in  my  mind's  eye  the  saloon  on  Christmas 
Eve,  \\ith  the  steaming  toddy  on  the  taljle.  If  I  know 
Nansen  aright,  the  dose  for  each  man  will  be  of  the 
homa-opathic  order.  How  clearly  it  stands  forth  in  my 
memory,  that  cosey  little  low-roofed  cabin,  with  the  small 
state-rooms  around  it! 

"  Saloon  "  is  a  misleading  word  to  use.  The  Frams 
saloon  was  little  more  than  a  cot.  But  the  thought  of  the 
high  endeavor  to  which  it  was  dedicated  made  it  seem 
loftier  and  more  spacious  than  the  most  majestic  hall.  In 
itself,  too,  it  was  a  cosey  little  retreat,  exceedingly  pleasant 
to  creep  down  into  when  it  was  too  raw  and  cold  and  wet 
to  remain  on  deck. 

On  the  front  wall  of  the  saloon,  between  the  two 
entrance  doors,  was  placed  a  long  sofa  with  high  end- 
posts  carved  into  dragons'  heads.  It  was  covered  with  a 
heavy  rug  of  bright  Norwegian  colors.  In  front  of  it 
stood  the  long  narrow  dining-table ;  by  making  ourselves 
as  small  as  jjossible,  we  cf)uld  all  (exceiDt  those  on  watch) 
sit  down  to  it  at  once.  The  table-service  was  the  same 
for  all  dishes  ;  an  enamelled  tin  i)late  and  a  big  enamelled 
cup. 

Over  the  middle  of  the  sofa  hung,  in  a  frame,  an  ad- 


ON  BOARD    yJ/K    '•  J'RAM'' 


'-U 


mirably  painted  design  lor  tapestry,  by  Cierhard  Munthc, 
representing  three  fairy-tale  princesses  surprised  by  tliree 
I)rinces  transformed  into  Ijears.  To  the  left  of  this  little 
masterpiece  hung  a  woodland  scene  by  Kilif  Peterssen, 
and  on  the  right  a  delicate  sketch  in  cohered  chalks  by 
Skredsvig,    representing    the   i)oint   and    landing-stage   at 


SALOON    ON    THE    "  1-KAM  " 


Nansen's  home  at   Lysaker,  with,  under  it,  a  study  from 
Jaederen  by  Kitty  Kielland. 

Against  the  right  hand  wall  stood  an  harmonium  made 
by  Nystrom  &  Co.,  of  Karlstad.  It  was  arranged  .so  that 
it  could  be  played  either  by  means  of  the  keys  like  a 
piano,  or  with  a  handle,  like  a  barrel-organ,  the  tune  being 
determined  by  a  strip  of  perforated  paper.  Its  repertory 
consisted  of  over  a  hundred  pieces,  from  the  minuet  in 
Don  Giovanni  -^ind  airs  from  Dtr  J-'rciscJiutz.  down  to  the 
commonest  dance  tunes.  As  an  institution,  however,  it 
did  not  seem  to  be  particularly  popular;  at  any  rate  there 
was  a  unanimous  movement  on  board  for  buving  a  con- 
certina in   Tromsij,  and  great  expectations  were  abroad  as 


234  A'.^.VSEX  /X  THE   IKOZEX   WORLD 

to  what  Moirstad  would  do  with  liis  violin  wlien  he  joined 
the  ship. 

Over  the  harmonium  liung  a  picture  by  Hansteen,  and 
between  the  door  of  Scott  Hansen's  comfortal^le  and  taste- 
fully arranged  cabin  and  the  back  wall  of  the  saloon  hung 
a  little  woodland  sketch,  also  by  Hansteen  ;  while  over  the 
stove  (a  petroleum  pipe-stove  made  by  Blunck.  which 
served  at  the  same  time  as  a  ventilating  apparatus),  in  the 
middle  of  the  back  wall,  hung  a  third  painting,  a  study  of 
birch-stems,  by  the  same  artist. 

On  the  left  wall,  between  the  entrance  to  Dr.  Blessing's 
and  Sverdrup's  cabins,  was  fixed  a  stand  with  seven  Krag- 
Jorgensen  carbines.  These,  however,  were  only  a  small 
portion  of  the  ^hip's  armament,  which  consisted  in  all  of 
no  fewer  than  thirt\-t\\()  rifles  and  twenty-four  revolvers, 
all  of  the  best  quality,  to  say  nothing  of  two  cannons,  and 
a  great  store  of  ammunition. 

Above  the  stand  of  guns  hung  another  charming  pic- 
ture by  Skredsvig  —  the  fir-trees  in  front  of  Nansen's 
house,  a  winter  landscape  with  snow. 

A  little  way  from  the  table,  the  great  mast  dixided  the 
saloon  into  two  ])arts.  It  was  surrounded  by  a  quite  nar- 
row upholstered  seat,  which,  however,  was  seldom  used. 
Loose  stools  were  scattered  about  the  cabin. 

Light  was  suj^plied  at  night  by  several  incandescent 
electric  lamjis  over  the  sofa.  The  great  arc  lam})  was  not 
used  while  I  was  on  board. 

One  other  detail  must  not  be  omitted  :  the  Norwegian 
lion  (.n  a  red  background  in  the  skylight  over  the  stove. 

Such  was  the  saloon  of  the  Fram.  The  roof  was  so  low 
that  (ijcrtsen,  Hendriksen,  and  juell  could  touch  it  with 
their  hats,  and  so  narrow  that  at  scarcely  any  i)art  of  it 


ON  BOARD    Tim   '• /'A'. /.I/"  235 

could  two  couples  pass  each  otlur  wilhoul  tiirm'iiL^  side- 
ways. 

How  every  little  detail  between  these  low  walls  has  fixed 
itself  in  my  nieniory,  from  the  half-frightened,  half-curious 
expression  on  the  faces  of  Munthe's  princesses,  to  the 
check  rug  on  the  sofa  seat,  which,  however,  Nansen  used  to 
turn  wrong  side  up  every  day,  for  he  found  that  the  many 
pairs  of  coal-dusty  and  tarry  trousers  left  too  obvious  traces 
on  the  pattern,  and  were  already  beginning  to  soften  the 
gay  colors  rather  too  much.  "  It  's  got  to  last  till  we  come 
back  again,"  said  Nansen,  "  so  we  must  be  sparing  of  our 
splendors." 

In  the  saloon  I  found  the  supper-table  still  sjDread,  al- 
though it  was  already  pretty  late.  The  engineers  who 
had  been  on  duty  had  come  up  to  have  supper  and  draw 
a  breath  of  fresh  air,  which  they  had  well  earned  ;  for  the 
stoke-hole  of  the  Ffam,  a  paradise  no  doubt  in  the  polar 
winter  so  long  as  the  coal  lasts,  must  in  these  more  south- 
erly  latitudes  and  in  summer  have  seemed  very  much  the 
reverse. 

There  they  sat,  then,  the  two  athletes  aforesaitl,  h'ngi- 
neer  Amundsen  and  Lieutenant  and  Stoker  lohansen, 
enjoying  their  rest  and  their  sui)i)er.  Presently  in  came 
Scott  Hansen  and  Dr.  Blessing,  and  we  got  a  warm  cup 
of  tea  from  the  steward  and  attacked  the  su])iK-r  manfully 
—  I,  indeed,  for  the  second  time. 

I  knew  that  I  should  probably  eat  only  one  more  sui)per 
on  board  the  Frani,  and  rccolKc  tions  streamed  in  upon 
me  of  my  days  on  board,  which  had  passed  so  (|uic-kly, 
along  with  many  a  thought  of  the  days  that  were  as  yet 
hidden  in  the  mists  of  the  future.  In  the  mean  time,  the 
supper  and  the  talk  went  on  as  usual,  Juell  going  back- 


,36  X.lXS^.y  /y  THE  FROZEN   WORLD 

ward  and  forward  and  assisting  in  both.  The  talk  ran 
on  all  sorts  of  topics,  but  of  course  chiefly  on  the  Fram 
and  everything  connected  with  her.  Now  the  petroleum 
launch  was  the  theme  —  one  held  that  it  was  a  wretched 
affair  altogether,  that  it  was  quite  impossible  to  kee})  it 
clean,  and  that  after  you  had  used  it  once,  it  took  half  a 
day  to  make  it  fit  for  use  again,  while  another  defended 
it  and  maintained  that,  with  its  great  speed,  it  would  be 
invaluable  for  reconnaissances,  etc.  Then  some  one  de- 
scribed what  a  sharp  look-out  )ou  had  to  keep  among  the 
open  lanes  in  the  ice,  how  it  felt  to  get  into  an  Arctic  fog, 
and  so  forth, 

I  was  to  take  no  part  in  all  thisi  so  felt  myself  rather 
outside  the  conversation.  I  turned  to  the  doctor  and 
said,  "  Tak  for  viaden}  doctor.  It  will  probably  be  a  long 
time  before  you  and  I  have  supper  together  again  on 
board  tlic  /'VamT 

"  Two  summers,  I  expect,"  said  the  doctor,  with  his 
usual  cheery  confidence. 

"  If  you  have  good  luck,  j^erhaps  you  '11  be  back  next 
autumn,"  said  I. 

"  That  would  be  the  devil's  own  luck,"  was  the  answer. 
"  No    luck    at    all,"   y\mundsen    put   in.     "  If   anything 
worth  while  is  to  come  of  the  trip,  we  must  be  away  two 
years  at  the  very  least." 

A  hearty  burst  of  laughter  greeted  Amundsen's  frank 
prognostication.  His  view  of  the  matter  was  undeniably 
both  a  stoical  and  a  practical  one. 

After  supjier  I  went  into  my  cabin  to  rest  a  little  and 
get  out  my  ox-ercoat  before  going  on  deck  again.  Nan- 
sen    had   given    up    his    own    cabin   to   me,   and    slept   in 

'  •'  Thanks  for  the  food  ! '"  —  a  iormula  always  used  at  Uie  end  of  a  meal. 


ON  BOARD    THE   ''  FRAM" 


237 


the  deck-house  \vliile  I  was  on  IxkirI.  The  door  lo  his 
cabin  was  on  the  ri-ht,  well  forward  in  the  saloon,  and, 
like  all  the  doors  in  the  J'^aui,  was  immensely  solid,  with 
a  high  threshold.  None  of  the  cabins  had  any  sort  of 
window  (the  sides  of  the  ship  were  twenty-four  inches 
thick),  and  when  the  door  was  closed  the  only  means  of 
ventilation  was  a  couple  of  small  holes  in  the  door  itself. 
It  was  of  course  pitch  dark,  too,  unless  the  incandescent 
lamps,  with  which  each  cabin  was  provided,  were  lighted. 
When  you  entered  the  cabin   and   turncfl   the  knob  for 


NA.NSENS  s■^^Il^■   mn   -nn    -ilwi. 


the  electric  light,  the  first  thing  it  shone  \\\)(\w  was  an  afl- 
mirable  drawing  b)'  Werenskjold  :  "  Eva  with  little  l.i\  in 
her  lap."  Thus  all  that  was  dearest  in  the  world  con- 
fronted him  the  moment  he  ]3ut  his  head  in  at  the  cabin 
door.  I  well  remember  one  morning  when  he  came  to 
fetch  something  before  I  had  got  up.  I  le  turned  the  but- 
ton while  still  in  the  doorway  and  began  to  chat  with  me  ; 


238  .^:-/.^".sv^-^'  ix  the  frozkx  world 

but   I   >a\\    wIktc   liis   eyes   fell,  and   where   his   thouglits 

were. 

Under  the  jiieture  was  a  bench,  a  sofa  l^y  day,  a  bed  by 
iiii;ht.  Here  were  no  soft  si)ring  mattresses,  only  a  stuffed 
pallet  with  a  pair  of  warm  blankets  and  a  single  very 
meagre  pillow.  Hut  how  sound  one  could  sleep  on  this 
.simple  couch  —  that  is  to  say,  when  the  Fram  was  not 
rolling  so  as  to  land  one  on  the  floor  every  now  and  then. 

For  the  Fram  could  roll,  at  any  rate  before  the  cargo 
was  shifted  in  the  Na-rosund. 

Scott  Hansen  declared  that  she  had  described  an  angle 
of  ft)rty-si.\  degrees  in  a  heavy  sea  off  Lister.  It  must 
have  been  an  uncomfortable  night ;  the  whole  forward 
deck  was  deej)  in  water,  so  that  the  deck  cargo  was  wash- 
ing about  from  one  side  to  the  other,  and  at  last  there  was 
nothing  for  it  but  to  throw  overboard  a  number  of  paraffin 
barrels,  b^jrtunately  they  were  only  empty  barrels  in- 
tended for  preserving  the  skins  of  bears,  seals,  walruses, 
and  other  game ;  and  there  were  plenty  of  them  left. 
1-2 ven  while  I  was  on  board  the  Fram,  she  rolled  a  good 
deal  one  night,  although  it  was  not  blowing  particularly 
hard,  and  the  sea  did  not  run  very  high  —  indeed,  there 
was  only  a  long  swell.  In  crossing  the  Vestfjord,  on  the 
other  hand,  when  it  was  blowing  quite  fresh,  the  ship  was 
as  steady  as  a  rock  the  moment  she  was  under  full  sail. 
She  was,  indeed,  a  strange,  a  unique  vessel.  Sverdrup, 
who,  as  a  rule,  said  little  enough,  could  not  help  now  and 
then  giving  expression  to  his  affectionate  surprise  in  a 
sulxlued  "  She  's  a  rare  little  craft,  and  no  mistake  !  " 

But  to  return  to  Nansen's  cabin.  On  one  side  of  the 
end  wall  was  a  cuj^board  containing  the  cash-box,  papers, 
diaries,  etc.,  the  key  of  which  was  in   Nansen's  own  keep- 


ON  BOARD    TIIK    'W'R.IM"  239 

ing;  on  the  otlicr  side,  near  the  head  of  the  bed  or  sofa, 
was  a  bookcase  with  a  rich  selection  of  hterature  of  many 
kinds.  Numbers  of  books  had  been  presented  to  the 
Frain  by  Norwegian,  Swedish,  and  Danish  puljHshers  and 
others.  The  tolerably  extensive  library  thus  formed  was 
always  at  the  disposal  of  the  crew.  Besides,  the  doctor 
had  his  own  medical  library  in  his  cabin,  and  Scott 
Hansen  kept  a  collection  of  books,  mainly  meteorological 
and  astronomical,  along  with  tlie  charts  in  the  chart-room. 
Hut  Nansen  had  j^icked  out  for  his  own  use  a  number  of 
books  which  he  kept  in  his  cabin.  They  were  for  the 
most  part,  of  course,  geographical,  geological,  zoological, 
and  other  scientific  works,  but  with  a  fair  sprinkling  of 
imaginative  literature  and  philosophy.  Ibsen  and  Hjorn- 
son,  Vinje,  Jonas  Lie,  Runeberg,  and  others  were  repre- 
sented, some  of  them  by  their  complete  works ;  and  here 
too  were  Tennyson,  Keats,  Byron,  Frauenstedt  s  Schopen- 
hauer, etc.  —  in  short,  an  ample  stock  of  reading  even  for 
the  long  night  of  the  polar  winter. 

When  I  entered  on  my  short  occupation  of  the  cabin, 
the  greater  part  of  these  books  lay  in  a  chaos  on  the  floor, 
along  with  all  sorts  of  other  things;  so  I  took  it  uj^on  my- 
self to  arrange  them  according  to  subjects  in  the  bookcase, 
and  I  made  free  use  of  this  librarv  while  I  was  on  board. 
This  evening,  for  instance,  when  I  lay  down  on  the  sofa 
after  supper,  I  opened  the  first  book  that  came  to  hand, 
and  found  it  to  be  Nansen's  "  How  can  the  North  Polar 
Region  be  Crossed  ?  "  —  containing  his  lecture  before  the 
Royal  Geographical  Society,  and  all  the  objections  of  the 
celebrated  T^nglish  sailors.  It  was  the  first  time  I  had 
seen  it.  It  made  a  peculiar  and  moving  imj)ression  upon 
me  as  I  read  it  here  in  Nansen's  own  cabin. 


,40  X.LVSJiX  AV  THE   FROZEN   WORLD 

When  I  had  done,  I  felt  I  must  go  up  and  sec  him. 
Until  that  moment  I  had  not  quite  grasped  and  realized 
the  significance  of  his  enterprise.  He  himself  was  always 
so  easy  and  unpretending,  and  on  board  the  Frant  every- 
thing took  its  daily  course  with  such  a  total  absence  of 
solemnity,  that  I  had,  as  it  were,  lost  the  sensation  of 
there  being  anything  unusual  in  this  voyage.  To  cross 
Greenland,  to  start  for  the  North  Pole,  to  go  to  the  end 
of  the  world,  seemed  no  more  to  these  men  than  a  trip 
down  Christiania  Fjord  to  the  ordinary  mortal. 

I  could  hear  Juell's  quick  tongue,  in  the  saloon,  supply- 
ing a  running  commentary  to  one  of  the  doctor's  stories; 
on  the  deck  some  one  was  rumbling  a  beer-barrel  along ; 
the  piston  kej^t  up  its  regular  throb,  and  the  propeller  its 
vibration,  while  the  Fram  clove  its  way  foot  by  foot 
through  the  sea,  slowly  but  surely  —  as  though  driven  by 
some  natural  law  ever  onward  and  onward  toward  the 
unknown  goal. 

Nansen  had  lent  me  a  camel's-fur  jacket  while  I  was  on 
board;  it  was  so  cosey  and  warm  that  it  seemed  to  put  my 
skin  into  a  positive  glow  when  I  had  it  on.  Thank 
Heaven,  I  thought,  he  need  certainly  neither  starve  nor 
freeze  so  long  as  the  J-raiii  holds  together. 

Hut  if  the  Fravi  should  be  crushed,  as  one  of  the  Eng- 
lish admirals  jDrophesied  .'* 

**  Then  we  '11  take  to  our  longboat,"  Nansen  had 
answered. 

"  The  boats  are  too  big  and  heavy,"  another  admiral 
had  objected. 

"  We  have  five  or  six  smaller  boats  with  us,"  was  Nan- 
sen's  reply,  "  and  if  the  worst  comes  to  the  worst,  we  '11 
get  along  on  an  ice  floe ;   I  've  done  it  before." 


ON  BOARD    THE  '"FRAAf"  241 

Yes,  I  felt  1  must  sec  him  and  express  my  affection 
for  him  in  the  little  time  we  could  still  be  toc^ether.  Up 
the  companion,  past  the  steaming  galley,  out  into  the  free 
air  of  heaven  ! 

There  the  Fram  lay,  heaving  gently  in  the  full  glory  of 
the  summer  night.  We  had  at  last  drawn  near  the  peaks 
of  Hammero,  so  that  we  could  see  their  green-clad  base. 
Before  us  stretched  all  the  mountains  of  the  mainland, 
those  nearest  bathed  in  a  splendid  purple  glow,  while  far- 
ther ahead  they  passed  through  all  gradations  of  subdued 
color  from  tender  violet  to  deep  gray,  right  down  to  the 
edge  of  the  crisp  blue-black  sea. 

It  was  strangely  still.  Not  a  soul  was  to  be  seen  on 
the  deck,  forward,  and  when  I  looked  aft,  to  the  south- 
ward, I  saw  nothing;  but  skv  and  sea.  The  solemn  silence 
of  the  summer  night  took  such  hold  on  my  mind  that 
I  remained  leaning  on  the  bulwarks  for  a  long  time, 
watching  the  })lash  of  the  waves  against  the  ship's  side, 
before  I  went  up  to  him. 

There  suddenly  flashed  upon  me  the  recollection  of  a  lit- 
tle ragged  urchin  whom  I  had  seen  a  few  days  before  on  the 
beach  near  Trondhjem  while  I  was  waiting  for  the  Fram. 
He  was  going  barefoot  in  the  sand,  dirty  and  unkemj^t, 
but  beaming  with  health  and  contentment,  and  singing  at 
the  top  of  his  voice,  "  ]Q:'g  gaar  i  fare,  hvor  jcg  gaar  !  " ' 

Then  the  thought  of  my  own  confirmation  came  ujion 
me,  when  I  sat  in  the  church  and  shouted  with  all  the 
rest,  "  jeg  gaar  i  fare,  hvor  jeg  gaar!"  and  heard  the 
mighty  organ-harmonies  throbbing  under  the  vaulted  roof 
as  though  they  indeed  represented  the  wrath  of  the  Lord. 

*  •'  I  go  in  clanger  wherever  I  go  "'  —  the  first  line  of  a  hymn. 
16 


^42  X.LVSSA'  ly  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

bonic  ^n\\^  came  along  the  deck  wliistling  a  merry  tune ; 
it  was  tlie  liglit-hearted  Petterson,  stripped  to  the  waist  in 
the  chill  evening  wind,  carrying  a  basin  and  a  tow^el  and 
preparing  to  wash  the  grime  of  tlie  engine-room  off  his 
face  and  body.  1  Ic  had  been  in  the  Polar  Sea  before,  on 
lx)ard  the  Ilcrtlui,  so  that  he  was  at  home  in  these  waters. 
What  a  splendidly  modelled  back!  How  fine  the  play  of 
the  muscles  in  his  arms!  Yes,  indeed,  such  frames  as 
this  seemed  built  for  a  tussle  with  the  darkness  and  the 
fog  and  the  cold  and  the  ice.  His  whole  personality  was 
^ct  to  a  very  different  air  from  that  which  was  running  in 
my  head.     Every  line  of  it  seemed  to  sing  :  — 

"  \'icr  glad  naar  faren  veier 
livur  L'vne,  som  du  eier !  "  ^ 

and  from  all  his  comrades  around,  from  the  man  who 
stood  at  the  helm,  from  those  who  were  stoking  the 
furnace,  from  all  who  now  lay  sleeping  in  their  bunks, 
it  seemed  as  thouirh  the  third  line  came  chiminc:  in  tri- 
umjihantlv:  — 

"  Og  desto  storre  seicr !  "  - 

I  could  delay  no  longer,  I  must  go  up  to  Nansen.  I 
clambered  o\er  boxes  and  boards,  wormed  my  way  be- 
tween barrels  and  stacks  of  dried  fish,  and  finally,  in 
.si^itc  of  all  obstacles,  managed  to  haul  myself  up  on  the 
bridge. 

There  he  still  sat  in  his  thin  silk  waterproof,  as  he  had 
sat  hour  after  hour,  def\'ing  the  wind.  When  he  saw  me 
he  rose  and  nodded,  and  said,  as  though  apologizing  for 
liaving  been  so  absorbed  in  his  j^ainting  :  — 

"I've    just    finished!"      And    then,    without    a    pause, 

'  "  Rejoice  when  danger  puts  to  the  test  every  faculty  you  possess." 
"^  "  And  so  much  greater  the  victory." 


ON  BOARD    THE    -  J-KAM"  243 

"  Have  you  ever  seen  such  a  lovely  evening  ?  We  "re 
lucky  in  our  weather,  and  no  mistake." 

"It's  a  beautiful  country,  this  of  ours,"  I  .said,  "You 
must  make  haste  and  come  home,  and  have  a  better  look 
at  it! —  And  now  let  me  see  your  works  of  art." 

"I  have  a  whole  bundle  here,"  he  answered.  "You 
shall  ha\e  the  lot  of  them  to  take  to  Kva." 

Ah,  yes  —  that  was  why  he  had  been  so  busy. 

"  I  Ve  been  down  below,  reading,"  I  went  on,  "and  I  got 
hold  of  that  b^nglish  pamphlet  of  yours  with  the  plan  of 
your  expedition.  You  did  n't  get  much  encouragement 
out  of  them,  in  London." 

"Oh,  they  didn't  treat  me  at  all  badly  —  and  there 
was  n't  really  anything  to  discourage  one  in  what  they 
said.  It  was  just  the  same  when  I  was  starting  for  (jreen- 
land,  you  know;  and  tliat,  to  my  mind,  was  really  a  more 
ticklish  business  than  this.  Here,  thank  goodness,  we  've 
got  everything  we  can  possibly  want,  and  I  hoi:)e  we  shall 
neither  starve  nor  freeze."  He  looked  in  my  face  with  a 
frank  smile  and  said  slowly  and  emphatically  :  "  Boasting 
aj)art,  no  ship  has  ever  been  ec|ui])}jed  for  an  Arctic  voy- 
age as  this  one  is." 

Then  he  bundled  u])  his  ])ainting  things,  and  we  went 
below. 

Two  days  later,  on  the  evening  of  jul\-  1  2,  we  jiarted 
at  Tromsi).  it  had  rained  and  snowed  alternately  all  day 
long,  and  fi'om  the  toj)  of  Tromsd.i]  Peak,  right  down  to 
the  gardens  along  the  fjord,  an  iiuh-lhick  sheet  (»f  new- 
fallen  snow  lay  over  the  green  leaves  and  the  fresh  gra>s. 
An  icy  north  wind  was  l^lowing,  so  that  the  fjord  seemed 
to  reck  ])eneath  it,  and  you  could  see  tlie  squalls  sweeping 
over  the  water. 


244 


.V.IXS^X  JX  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 


Nansen  and  I  had  been  afoot  all  day  making  purchases. 
Moreover,  we  liad  been  studying  geology  in  Tromsb  Mu- 
seum, had  had  a  glass  of  wine  at  Mack's,  and  had,  for  the 
rest,  put  in  our  time  usefully  and  agreeably. 

I  had  been  aboard  the  Frmn  in  the  afternoon  to  say 


COLIN    AKCHKK.    THE    HUILUKK    OF    THK    "  1-KAM  " 


good-by,  and  had  jjoked  my  nose  into  every  hole  and 
corner  to  fix  my  impressions  firmly  in  my  memory.  On 
board  I  found  Mogstad,  w^ho  had  now  joined  the  ship,  and 
was  to  replace  Gjertsen  and  Christiansen.  He  impressed 
mc  as  a  fine,  active,  fearless  fellow,  and  was  doubtless  a 
valuable  addition  to  the  crew. 


ON  JWARD    THE    ''  FKAM"  245 

While  I  was  busy  packing  my  i^ortmanteau,  Nanscn 
came  clown  with  the  water-colors  and  pastels,  the  products 
of  the  northward  voyage,  which  I  had  j^romised  to  take 
to  his  wife.  He  had  i)laced  them  within  the  leaves  of 
Nordenskjold  s  great  facsimile  atlas,  and  remarked  as  he 
gave  me  the  parcel :  "  You  'd  better  take  Nordenskjold's 
book  with  you  ;  it 's  so  costly  and  valuable,  it  would  be  a 
great  pity  to  lose  it  if  the  luck  should  go  against  us,  and 
we  should  have  to  leave  the  Fram  behind." 

He  said  this  with  as  much  nonchalance  as  if  he  had 
been  speaking  of  leaving  behind  an  old  overcoat,  or  a 
worn-out  pair  of  boots. 

"  You  must  sec  and  bring  the  Fvam  home  with  you,"  I 
said. 

"  Oh,  you  maybe  sure  we  won't  leave  the  vessel  until 
we  can't  do  anything  else  ;  but  of  course  the  ice  might  be 
so  bad  that  we  could  n't  get  her  through,  and  then  it  woultl 
be  annoying  to  have  to  lose  more  than  necessary." 

That  evening  Nansen  and  Sverdrup  accompanied  me 
on  board  the  Vesteraalen,  and  had  a  glass  of  hot  toddy  by 
way  of  stirrup  cup. 

A  last  hearty  embrace,  and  good-by.  "  My  love  to  your 
wife  !  And  be  sure  and  give  my  love  to  Eva  and  Liv  and 
all  at  home  !  " 

"  Promise  me  you  '11  take  care  of  yourself,  and  not  be 
too  reckless  —  and  a  safe  return  to  both  you  and  the 
Fram  !     And  God  bless  you,  mv  dear  friend  !  " 

The  steamer's  ])cl]  rings  for  t lie  last  time.  At  midnight 
precisely  the  Vesteraalen  starts  for  the  south.  I  see  Nan- 
sen  and  SverdrujD  standing  erect,  side  by  side,  in  the  stern 
boat  of  the  I-'ravi.  Vox  a  moment  more  I  can  distinguish 
Nansen's  light  waterproof;  then  the  two  figures  seem  to 


,46  X.!-yS/uV  AY  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

melt  into  one  behind  the  veil  of  snow,  thick  as  in  mid- 
winter, which    is   sweeping  over    the    sound.      One    last 
glimpse  of  the  Fravi  through  the  mist,  and  all  is  over. 
When  shall  I  see  him  again.? 


lit.    •    1  RAM '■    l.KAVING    liKKGEN,    NORWAY,    KUR   THE   ARCTIC    REGIONS 


HANSEN'S    STORY 

AS   TOLU    I!Y    HIMSELF 


CHAPTI-R  XIII 

INTRODUCTION 

As  soon  as  ever  I  began  to  think  about  Aretie  enterprise 
it  struck  nie  that  the  ways  in  wliich  attempts  had  hitherto 
been  made  to  jDenetrate  into  the  mysteries  of  the  jjolar 
regions  were  hardlv  tlie  best.  It  was  clear  that  tlie  con- 
stantly  moving  sea-ice  which  comes  drifting  from  the  no>'th 
has  been  the  great  hindrance  which  has  stopped  the  ships 
and  often  crushed  them,  as  well  as  has  made  progress  by 
means  of  dogs  and  sledges  such  a  difficult  task.  It  oc- 
curred to  me,  h()we\'er,  that  there  must  be  other  ways  by 
which  the  interior  of  these  unknown  regions  might  be 
reached,  and  it  is  many  years  since  I  first  conceived  the 
plan  of  the  voyage  we  have  now  accomplished. 

It  was  especially  the  finding  of  some  articles  from  the 
unfortunate  yean//i'//c  Qxpcdh'um  which  led  me  in  i  SS4  to 
think  of  this  plan.  These  articles  were  found,  as  is  well 
known,  on  the  southwest  coast  of  Greenland,  and  could 
not,  in  my  opinion,  have  come  there  from  the  sea  north- 
east of  the  New  Siberian  Islands,  where  the  Jtaiuieltc 
went  down,  in  any  other  wav  than  right  across  the  Pokar 
Sea  north  of  I^-anz  josef  Land  ;  and  it  struck  me  that  if 
objects  from  a  .ship  could  drift  this  wa\-.  a  >hi|)  too  might 
go  the  same  route,  provided  she  was  strong  enough  to 
withstand  the  pressure  of  the  ice. 

I  then  began  to  study  these  seas  carefully,  and  turned 
my  attention  especially  to  the  ice  and  its  drift ;  but  the 


250  X.LVSJiN  IX  THE  FROZEN   WORLD 

more  I  studied  the  subject,  the  more  proofs  I  obtained 
of  a  constant  communication  between  the  sea  north  of 
Siberia  and  that  on  the  east  coast  of  Greenland,  and  I 
was  fully  convinced  that  there  was  a  constant  drift  or 
drift  current  which  carried  the  drift  ice  in  a  fixed  course 
ri^dit  across  the  sea  around  the  North  Pole  from  the  Si- 
berian and  Bering  Strait  side,  out  into  the  sea  between 
Spitzbergen  and  Greenland.  And  so  certain  was  my  con- 
viction of  the  correctness  of  this  theory,  that  I  w^as  equally 
certain  that  an  expedition  which,  with  a  specially  adapted 
vessel,  pushed  into  the  ice  and  allowed  itself  to  be  frozen 
in  at  the  right  spot  on  the  Siberian  side,  must  necessarily 
drift  the  same  way,  and  thus  be  enabled  to  lift,  to  some 
extent,  the  veil  which  is  drawn  across  these  regions.  In 
my  lecture  delivered  before  the  Royal  Geographical  So- 
ciety in  November,  1892,  and  published  in  the  "  Geograph- 
ical Journal"  for  1896,  I  unfolded  my  plan  and  the  views 
upon  which  it  was  based. 

The  proofs  upon  which  I  chiefly  based  my  theory  of  a 
drift  across  the  Polar  Sea  were,  as  before  mentioned :  — 

(i)  The  continual  conveyance  of  Siberian  drift  wood  to 
the  Greenland  coast. 

(2)  The  finding  on  the  coast  of  Greenland  of  a  throw- 
ing-stick  (an  I^skimo  implement),  of  wliich  it  might  with 
certainty  be  affirmed  that  it  came  from  Alaska  by  the 
Bering  .Strait ;  and 

(3)  The  very  nature  of  the  ice  that  comes  drifting  south 
along  the  coast  of  East  Greenland,  and  which  is  consider- 
ably larger  and  more  massive  than  any  drift  ice  we  know, 
and  ma)-  therefore  safely  be  said  to  have  drifted  a  long 
time  in  the  sea  before  it  could  be  packed  together  and 
piled  up  to  form  such  enonnous  masses. 


INTR  OD  UCTJON  2  5 1 

One   proof  to  which   at    that  time   I  attached   consid- 
erable  value,  and   which,  after  investigating  the  circum- 
stances more  closely,  I  consider  to  be  of  still  greater  im- 
portance, was  that   all  over  the  ice  which  comes  drifting 
southward    along    the    east    coast    of    (ireenland,    down 
through  the  strait  between  Iceland  and  Greenland,  1  found 
brown  dust  and  mud.     This,  I  concluded,  could  not  come 
from  any  other  place   than  Siberia.     During  my  Green- 
land expedition  in   1888,  however,  I  collected  .some  sam- 
ples of  this  dust,  which  I  got  the  geologist   l'\)rnebohm  to 
examine.      Without    knowing    my    views  —  simply    from 
microscopical  examination  of  this  dust  —  he  gave  it  as  his 
opinion    that    it    had   probably    come    from    an  extensive 
alluvial  country,  and  therefore  considered  Siberia  t(^  be  its 
probable  source.     Besides  mineral  dust,  however,  he  found 
in   these  samples  microscopical    plants,  which   are  known 
by  the  name  of  diatoms,  and   he  therefore  sent  the  sam- 
ples to  Professor  Cleve,  the  great  authority  on  the  sub- 
ject.    Cleve  now  found  a  striking  conformity  between  the 
diatoms  in   my  samples  and   those   in  a  samjile  which   had 
been  casually  gathered   during   the   Swedish    Vco^a   expe- 
dition on   a  floe  off  Cape    W'ankaivnia,   in    the   neighbor- 
hood of   Bering  Strait.      These  diatom   samples  from  two 
places    lying  at    such    a  distance    from  one  another   are 
totally  different  from  all  other  samjDles  hitherto  examined 
from    different   parts   t)f    the   world.      Mutuallv.  however, 
they  are  so  exactly  alike   that  Clew  did   not  he>itati'   in 
expressing  it  as  his  opinion    that  tluTi-  must   W-  an  open 
communication   between    tin-  sea  north   of    liering  .Strait 
and  that  cast  of  Greenland.      By  invotigating  this  more 
closely   during  the   expedition,  I  found   a  whole  world   of 
diatoms  and  other  microscopical  organisms,  both   vegc- 


,52  ^'.l^'s/^^'  A^'  t//£  frozen  world 

table  and  animal,  living  in  the  fresh-water  pools  on  the 
polar  drift  ice,  and  constantly  travelling  from  Siberia  to 
the  east  coast  of  Greenland,  — a  world  which  has  hitherto 
only  been  known  from  the  above-mentioned  samples,  but 
which,  perhaps,  no  one  dreamed  was  living  on  the  ice  in 
the  far  north  —  that  ice  which  was  thought  to  be  utterly 
forsaken  by  all  living  beings. 

After  having  brought  forward  in  my  lecture  the  various 
proofs  of  the  correctness  of  my  theories,  I  summed  up  in 
the  following  words  :  — 

From  all  these  facts  we  seem  fully  entitled  to  draw  the 
conclusion  that  a  current  is  constantly  running  across 
the  polar  region  to  the  north  of  Franz  Josef  Land  from 
the  sea  north  of  Siberia  and  Bering  Strait,  and  into  the 
sea  between  Spitzbergen  and  Greenland ;  and  as  we  have 
seen,  the  floe  ice  is  constantly  travelling  with  this  current 
in  a  fixed  route  between  these  seas.  Since  such  is  the 
case,  the  most  natural  way  of  crossing  the  unknown  region 
must  be  to  take  a  ticket  with  this  ice,  and  enter  the  cur- 
rent on  the  side  where  it  runs  northward  —  that  is,  some- 
where near  the  New  Siberian  Islands  —  and  let  it  carry 
one  straight  across  those  latitudes  which  it  has  prevented 
so  many  from  reaching. 

As  was  emphasized  in  this  lecture,  it  was  not,  of  course, 
the  object  of  the  expedition  to  reach  the  North  Pole,  but 
to  go  right  across  the  unknown  polar  region.  As  I  then 
said  ("  Geographical  Journal,"  p.  20),  it  is  not  possible  to 
guarantee  exactly  over  what  point  the  current  will  take 
fine.  "It  may  be  possible,"  I  say,  "  tliat  the  current  will 
not  carry  us  exactly  across  the  Pole,  but  the  principal 
thing  is  to  explore  the  unknown  polar  regions,  not  to 
reach  exactly  the  mathematical  point  in  which  the  axis 
of  our  globe  has  its  northern  termination," 


X.LVSEX  ly  THE   FROZEN  WORLD 
To  attain  this,  it  was  clear  to  me  that  there  were  only 
two  ways  of  proceeding;  it  was  either  — 

(1)  To  build  a  strong  ship,  so  constructed  that  it  can 
withstand  the  pressure  of  the  ice,  and,  living  in  this  ship, 
to  float  across  with  the  ice  ;  or 

(2)  To  take  only  boats  along,  and  camp  on  an  ice  floe, 
and  live  there  while  floating  across. 

My  jilan  was  especially  based  on  the  former  of  these 
two  ways,  but  also  in  such  a  manner  that  we  were  pre- 
pared to  take  the  second  way  in  case  our  ship  should  be 
overcome  by  the  superior  force  of  the  ice. 

In  order,  however,  that  this  should  not  happen,  I  gave 
all  my  care  tt)  the  building  of  a  ship  especially  fitted  for 
this  object,  and  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  find  in  the 
well-known  Norwegian  naval  architect,  Mr.  Colin  Archer, 
a  man  who  devoted  himself  with  all  the  skill  and  capabil- 
ity he  possessed  to  the  task  I  set  him.  Seldom,  if  ever, 
has  a  ship  been  built  with  more  care  or  greater  conscien- 
tiousness than  that  with  which  Colin  Archer  built  the 
Fravi;  but  in  return  he  has  the  satisfaction  of  having 
produced  the  first  ship  that  has  ever  passed  the  Polar 
Circle.  The  Fram  fulfilled  perfectly,  down  to  the  small- 
est details,  the  requirements  wdiich  I  put  upon  her.  It 
was  not  only  her  great  strength  and  the  picked  material 
of  which  she  was  built  which  enabled  her  to  go  through 
the  exceptionally  severe  ordeals  to  which  she  was  sub- 
jected, but  it  was  also  the  unusually  good  shape,  and  the 
numerous  ingenious  means  by  which  all  dangerous  points 
were  protected,  and  which  were  due  in  a  great  measure  to 
Colin  Archer's  insight.  It  is  therefore  to  a  great  extent 
owing  to  him,  through  the  good  ship,  that  the  whole  expe- 
dition, which   it  was  prophesied  in  advance  would  be  the 


INTRODUCTION  233 

hardest  and  most  (laiit;cn)us  that  iikui  had  ever  yet  ven- 
tured upon,  was  a  real  pleasure  or  holirlay  trij),  durin*'- 
whieh  we  led  so  eomfortable  a  life  that  few  could  be 
more  comfortable,  even  in  Old  England. 

When  I  delivered  my  lecture  to  the  Royal  Ge(\i;raj)hi- 
cal  Society,  many  of  the  great  Arctic  authorities  who 
were  present  as  my  true  friends,  and  anxious  abtnit  the 
safety  of  my  comjianions  and  nnself,  strongly  dissuaded 
me  from  the  attempt.  A  few  of  them  went  so  far  as  to 
say  that  the  whole  plan  was  founded  on  theories  whi(  h 
were  far  from  agreeing  with  the  actual  circumstances; 
and  the  general  opinion,  both  in  England  and  elsewhere, 
was  that  either  the  expedition  would  never  be  heard  of 
again,  after  having  once  confided  itself  to  the  caj)ricious 
polar  ice,  or  it  would  return  without  results;  and  all 
authorities  seemed  to  agree  tliat  it  was  an  utter  impossi- 
bility for  a  ship  to  withstand  the  ice-pack  in  the  unkncnvn 
North.  The  well-known  American  Arctic  traveller,  (ien- 
cral  A.  W.  Grcely,  thought  it  "  almost  incredible  that 
the  ]")lan  advanced  by  Dr.  Nansen  should  receive  encour- 
agement or  suj)j3ort,"  and  he  concludes  his  article  in  the 
"Forum"  with  the  following  words:  "  /Vrctic  exploration  is 
sufficiently  credited  with  rashness  and  danger  in  its  legit- 
imate and  sanctioned  methods,  without  bearinir  the  bur- 
den  of  Dr.  Nansen's  illogical  scheme  of  self-destruction." 

This,  of  course,  could  not  >hake  my  f.u'th  in  the  correct- 
ness of  my  plan.  The  Norwegian  Stoithing  had  already, 
as  soon  as  I  ])ut  forward  a  petition.  Noted  the  sum  I 
required  for  its  realization,  while  there  was  no  difficulty 
in  obtaining  from  j:)rivate  individuals  in  Norway  what 
more  was  required  for  the  expedition.  I  huiiig,  on 
account   of   the  expensive   construction    of   the   ship.  etc.. 


256  .V.LVS/:X  /y  THE  FROZEN   WORLD 

run  short  of  funds  just  before  starting,  I  had  to  ask  the 
Norwegian  Stortliing  for  an  extra  grant,  which  was  again 
given  with  wiUing  hand. 

STATEMENT    OF    RECEIPTS    AND    EXPENDITURES    OF   THE 
"  FKAM  "    EXPEDITION,    1893-1896 


INCOME 

Crmviii 

Contribution  of  the  State 
(government)     ....  280,000.00 

H.  .M.  the  king  and  origi- 
nal private  contributors  .   105,000.00 

Collected  by  geographical 

society  and  committee   .     20.468.46 

Interest 9,729.78 

Deficit  covered  by  A.  Hei- 
berg,  A.  Dick,  and  F. 
Nansen 19,862.50 

London  Geographical  .So- 
ciety (^300),  H.  Simon, 
Manchester  (^100),  a 
Norwegian  at  Riga  (1000 
rubles),  and  others    .     .       9,278.62 


Total  cr 444,339.36 

(Total  about  $120,000.00.) 


EXPENSES 

Hire-account  (wages)    .     . 

Life  insurance  premiums 
(for  the  married  mem- 
bers of  exp.) 

Instruments  ace 

Ship's  ace.    .     . 

Provision  ace.  . 

Expense  ace.     . 

Outfitting  ace.  . 


Crowns 
46,440.00 


5,361.90 
12,978.68 
271,927.08 
39,172.98 
10,612.38 
57,846.3.1 


Total  er 444,339.36 

(Total  about  $120,000.00.) 


CHAPTKR    XIV 

TllK    VOYAGE    OK    THE    "  FRAM  " 

On  June  24,  1S93,  cvcnthini;-  was  at  last  ready,  and 
the  Fram  weighed  anchor,  and  stood  off  down  the 
Christiania  Tjord.  On  July  21  we  stood  out  to  sea  fnmi 
Vardb,  the  last  Norwegian  port,  and  shaped  a  course  for 
Nova  Zembla.  On  the  way  we  were  stopped  by  ice  for 
some  days,  and  did  not  reach  Chabarowa,  in  the  Yugor 
Straits,  until  July  29.  Here  we  took  on  board  thirty-four 
Siberian  sledge  dogs,  which  Trontheim,  a  man  sent  by 
Baron  Toll,  had  brought  for  us  from  the  Ostiaks,  in  West 
Siberia.  Here,  too,  the  boiler  had  to  be  cleaned,  and 
various  other  preparations  made  before  we  could  proceed. 
We  were  also  waiting  for  a  slooj),  the  Urania,  whicli  was 
to  bring  us  a  cargo  of  coal ;  but  her  coming  was  delayed  ; 
and  as  we  already  had  a  large  quantity  of  coal  and  time 
was  short,  I  decided  not  to  wait. 

On  one  occasion  I  am  afraid  that  I  lowered  my  repu- 
tation for  all  time  to  come  among  the  Russians  and 
Samojedes  in  these  parts.  Some  of  them  had  been  on 
board  and  had  seen  me  stand  in  the  launch  (I  was  en- 
gaged in  j)utting  the  machiner)-  in  order),  with  arms  bare 
and  face  full  of  dirt  and  grease,  wearing  a  woollen  shirt 
and  working  hard.  After  they  had  gone  to  shore,  they 
told  Trontheim  that  he  had  deceived  them  in  telling 
them  that  I  was  a  fine  gentleman.  They  declared  that 
I  worked  like  a  common  laborer  on  board,  and  looked 
•7 


258  X.IXSEX  TX  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

worse  than  a  pig.  Unfortunately,  Trontheim  could  not 
say  anything  in  my  defence ;  one  cannot  deny  facts. 

On  the  evening  of  August  3  we  were  ready  to  start. 
My  secretary,  Christoffersen,  who  had  accompanied  us 
so  far,  now  took  lea\'e  of  us.  Just  as  we  were  about  to 
weigh  anchor,  however,  a  fog  came  on,  and  we  could 
hardly  see  the  length  of  the  bowsprit.  The  fog  did  not 
seem  inclined  to  lift,  and  I  at  last  decided  to  start  in  spite 
of  it,  I  myself,  with  one  man,  going  in  front  in  our  little 
petroleum  launch  to  sound  the  shallow  channels  where 
we  might  expect  to  run  aground  at  any  moment.  We 
got  safely  out,  and  next  morning  stood  out  of  the  Yugor 
Straits,  and  entered  the  dreaded  Kara  Sea.  Here  it  was 
not  long  before  we  met  with  ice,  and  it  almost  looked  as 
if  every  way  was  blocked ;  but  we  found  an  open  channel 
running  eastward  along  the  shore,  and  followed  it  as  far 
as  the  Kara  River,  Thence  we  crossed  over  to  Yalmal, 
where,  on  .August  6,  we  were  completely  stopped  by  ice. 
We  went  ashore,  and  while  waiting  employed  the  time  in 
botanical  and  geological  expeditions.  Upon  fixing  the 
locality,  we  found,  too,  that  on  the  map  the  coast  was 
jDlaced  half  a  degree  too  far  west.  While  we  lay  here,  two 
Samojedes  came  on  board ;  they  were  hospitably  received, 
and,  having  been  enriched  with  biscuits  and  other  Euro- 
pean luxuries,  left  the  ship  well  pleased.  They  were  the 
last  human  beings  we  saw. 

On  August  12  the  ice  at  length  opened  toward  the 
north  sufficiently  to  allow  of  our  venturing  on  an  attempt 
to  force  our  way  farther.  At  the  northern  point  of  Yal- 
mal, indeed,  we  were  fortunate  enough  to  reach  open 
water  on  August  1 3 ;  but  a  stiff  northeasterly  gale  com- 
pelled us  to  tack  eastward  against  a  heavy  sea.  This 
went  on  for  several  weeks. 


THE    VOyAUK    OI'    TJJE    " /A\LW  250 

While  beating  up  one  clay  against  a  .stilt  breeze  in  the 
Kara  Sea,  to  the  northwest  of  the  mouth  of  the  Yenisei 
River,  we  suddenly  discovered  land.  We  could  not  make 
out  what  this  was,  as  our  observations  gave  our  jio.silion 
as  riglU  out  at  sea.  It  soon,  however,  became  clear  to  us 
that  this  was  a  hitherto  unknown  island,  and  we  named 
it  Sverdrup's  Island.  In  the  evening  we  got  under  the 
shore  at  Port  Dickson.  It  had  originally  been  our  inten- 
tion to  put  in  here  to  leave  letters  for  home,  which  were 
to  be  called  for  by  the  English  Yenisei  KxjDcdition  under 
Captain  Wiggins;  but  time  was  precious,  and  I  therefore 
decided  to  go  on  without  stopping. 

During  our  sail  in  a  northeasterly  direction  along  the 
coast  of  Siberia  we  were  continually  discovering  new  is- 
lands, which  I  shall  not  dwell  upon  here.  This  coast 
upon  the  whole  is  very  different  from  that  represented  on 
maps.  It  gave  me  the  impression  of  being  a  glaciated 
coast,  with  deep  fjords  and  a  marked  belt  of  rocks  and 
islands  outside  it,  something  like  the  west  coast  of  Nor- 
way or  Scotland,  although  of  course  the  mountains  were 
not  so  high  nor  the  fjords  so  marked. 

On  August  20  we  landed  on  one  of  Kjellman's  Islands, 
where  "\ve  shot  a  couple  of  bears  and  some  reindeer. 
Here,  as  in  several  places  on  the  Siberian  coast,  we  found 
unmistakable  traces  of  a  glacial  period,  which  must  have 
covered  Northern  Siberia  with  an  inland  ice  of  considera- 
ble extent.  I  found  erratic  blocks,  moraines,  ami  moraine 
deposit  almost  wherever  I  landed,  from  Yalmal  to  the  cast 
of  Cape  Chelyuskin  ;  and  on  this  particular  island  I  also 
found,  in  a  place  which  was  left  bare  at  low  water,  unmis- 
takable striations.  When  we  were  about  to  go  on  from 
this  place,  we  were  stojDjDed  by  storm  and  a  rapid  adverse 


26o  A\ixs£y  y.v  the  frozen  world 

current,  which,  in  these  dangerous  waters,  full  of  rocks 
and  shallows,  rendered  our  advance  impossible.  Not  un- 
til August  24  did  we  get  clear  of  them,  when  we  still  had 
to  beat  up  toward  the  east,  against  a  strong  head  wind. 
On  August  27  wc  reached  Cape  Palander,  and  on  the 
same  night  were  stopped  by  unbroken  land-ice  between 
Xordenskjold's  Taimyr  Island  and  the  Alnicjuist  Islands. 
We  endeavored  to  break  our  way  through  to  the  north  of 
the  latter,  but  discovered  a  new  chain  of  islands  stretch- 
ing far  north.  After  having  at  length  reached  the  north- 
ern end  of  these,  we  were  stopped  there  by  densely  packed 
ice,  and  were  obliged  to  turn  back.  There  was  no  pas- 
sage to  be  discovered  ;  unbroken  land-ice  lay  everywhere 
between  the  islands,  We  were  obliged  to  wait,  prepared 
to  winter  in  the  same  spot  where  Nordenskjold,  as  early 
as  the  middle  of  August,  1878,  had  found  water  entirely 
free  from  ice.  Tlie  storm,  however,  l3roke  up  the  ice,  and 
on  September  6  we  were  able  to  continue  our  way;  but  to 
our  suq^rise  we  came  upon  land  before  we  were  half  way 
across  the  Taimyr  Gulf,  as  it  is  laid  down  on  the  map. 
'I  his  bay  is  considerably  narrower  than  one  would  gather 
from  ordinary  maps,  and  has  a  different  appearance.  We 
went  on  in  a  northerly  direction  toward  Cape  Chelyus- 
kin, but  were  stopped  on  September  7  by  close-packed 
ice  to  landward, 

(>)n  the  f(jll()wing  day  I  went  on  an  expedition  into  the 
Chelyuskin  Peninsula.  I  found  it  to  consist  for  the  most 
|)art  of  extensive  clay  ]Dlains,  strewn  with  huge  erratic 
blocks  of  granite,  ix)rj3hyry,  and  various  kinds  of  rock.  I 
also  found  here  the  opening  of  a  mighty  estuary,  which 
extended  far  up  into  the  land. 

^n   S.-ptember  9  we  were  once  more  able  to  push  our 


rUE    10  VAC  K    OF   THIi    -/A'.l.]/-'  261 

way  northward,  discovering  still  more  new  islands  in  the 
sea  to  the  west  of  Cajie  Chelyuskin,  which  we  passed  im 
September  10.  J{ast  of  this  ca])e  the  thickly  packed  ice 
obliged  us  once  more  to  make  a  short  halt,  Masses  of 
ice  lay  to  the  east  and  south  along  the  east  coast  of  the 
Taimyr  Peninsula,  so  close  to  the  shore  that  we  were 
obliged  to  continue  along  it  southward  as  far  as  to  about 
the  mouth  of  the  Anabara  Ri\er.  On  Se])tember  15  we 
were  off  the  Olcnek  Ri\er,  wliere  twenty-six  hrst-rate 
sledge  dogs  were  awaiting  us.  I'hese,  too,  had  been  pro- 
cured by  Haron  Toll,  Ijccause  the  Kast  Siberian  dogs  are 
very  much  better  than  the  West  Siberian.  It  was  most 
important  for  me  to  have  these  dogs,  as  I  felt  that  they 
might  become  very  useful  to  us  ;  but  the  shallow  water 
and  the  lateness  of  the  season  ke])t  me  from  gt^ing  in. 
Were  we  to  run  aground  here,  it  might  easily  cost  us 
several  da\s'  labor  to  get  afloat  again,  and  in  the  mean 
time  winter  might  set  in,  and  we  should  be  imprisoned 
for  a  whole  year,  even  if  nothing  worse  happened.  I 
considered  this  was  too  "reat  a  risk  to  run,  and  therefore 
continued  our  course  toward  the  New  Siberian  Islands. 

On  the  night  of  September  iS  we  |)assed  the  most 
westerly  of  these  islands — Hielkov  Island.  Depots  had 
been  left  on  Kotelny  for  the  expedition  by  Haron  Toll,  in 
case  of  f)ur  being  obliged  to  leave  the  shij)  and  turn  our 
steps  homeward  across  Siberia.  I  would  have  been  glad 
to  inspect  these  depots;  but  again  time  com|)elled  us  to 
continue  our  way  without  dcla\-  through  the  ojjcn  water 
to  the  north. 

It  was  not  until  September  20,  in  77  44'  N.  lat..  that 
we  were  stopped  by  ice.  I  should  have  liked  to  go 
eastward   along  the   edge  of    the   ice  for  the  jjurpose  of 


262  NANSEy  IN  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

examining,  if  possible,  tlie  mysterious  Sannikov  Land; 
and  thence  go  in  the  direction  of  Bennett  Island;  but 
there  was  a  great  deal  of  ice  in  this  direction,  and  as  pro- 
gress would  consequently  be  doubtful,  I  continued  in  a 
northwesterly  direction  along  the  edge  of  the  ice.  On 
September  21  we  reached  the  head  of  a  bay  in  the  ice, 
whence  the  ice-edge  extended  in  a  southwesterly  direc- 
tion. Here  we  could  discover  no  further  lead  toward 
the  north,  and  we  therefore,  on  September  22,  made  fast 
to  an  iceberg  in  78'  50'  N.  lat.  and  133°  zi  E.  long.,  and 
allowed  ourselves  to  be  surrounded  by  the  ice,  which  was 
soon  packed  closely  around  the  ship. 

During  the  first  few  days  we  drifted  in  a  northerly 
direction,  so  that  by  September  29  we  had  passed  the 
seventy-ninth  parallel  of  latitude.  Hope  was  bright,  but 
before  long  it  was  darkened  by  a  north  w  ind,  which  con- 
tinued throughout  tlie  autumn,  and  carried  us  in  a  south- 
easterly direction.  That  was  a  dreary  time  ;  it  seemed 
as  if  everything  were  going  against  us.  On  November 
S  we  had  come  right  down  as  far  as  'j']°  43'  N.  lat.,  and 
1 3S°  8'  E.  long. ;  but  then  at  last  we  got  southerly  and 
southeasterly  winds,  and  began  in  earnest  to  drift  in  a 
northerly  and  northwesterly  direction,  just  as  had  been 
presupposed,  in  the  plan  of  the  expedition. 

As  early  as  October  the  ice-pressures  began  to  be  tre- 
mendous, and  continued  throughout  the  autumn  and 
winter.  We  soon  discovered  that  it  was  principally  due 
to  the  tidal  current,  and  that  the  ice  periodically  parted 
and  |)acked  together  again  twice  in  the  twenty-four  hours. 
1  he  jiressure,  was  therefore  greatest  at  the  s])ring  tides, 
when  it  would  often  lift  the  vessel  several  feet,  t)nly  to  let 
it  drop  back  again  into  its  former  position  as  soon  as  the 


THE    VOYAGI-    OF   'J  I /I'    -  JRAM 


263 


Till-.    "IKAM"    in     NIK    KK-PACK 


ice  again  opened.  In  the  case  of  any  other  vessel  this 
])ressure  would  haw  been  utterly  fatal;  hut  the  /•><?;;/ 
surpassed  our  boldest  exj^ectations,  and  was  superior  to 
all  jjressure.  The  ice  ])iled  itself  uj),  and  crashed  against 
her  sides  with  a  noise  like  the  crack  of  dooni,  but  in  vain. 
1  here  was  not  a  sound  of  the  yielding  of  timbers  or  wood. 


264  iV.^NSEN  IN  THE  FROZEN   WORLD 

The  noise  of  the  ice  crushing  against  her  sides  often  rose 
to  such  a  pitch  that  we  could  not  hear  each  other  speak 
as  we  sat  in  the  saloon.  It  was  particularly  awkward  for 
the  card-players,  who  thus  could  not  hear  each  other's 
declarations. 

At  first,  as  long  as  the  crew  were  unaccustomed  to  this, 
they  found  the  scene  so  interesting  that  they  remained  on 
deck  to  watch  it ;  but  they  soon  tired  of  it,  and  no  longer 
went  up,  however  bad  the  pressure  was.  We  felt  as  safe 
as  in  a  fortress,  and  the  /''nzw  was  a  comfortable  warm 
nest,  where  nothing  was  felt  of  the  severity  of  the  polar 
winter. 

The  temperature  fell  rapidly,  and  continued  evenly  low 
throughout  the  winter.  During  many  weeks  the  mer- 
cury was  frozen.  The  lowest  temperature  was  63°  below 
zero.  In  spite  of  this,  and  although  with  this  temperature 
there  was  often  a  wind,  we  felt  quite  comfortable,  during 
our  open-air  excursions,  in  our  good  woollen  clothing, 
with  a  covering  of  wind-proof  material  outside.  The 
Fram  was  so  well  protected  against  the  cold  that  e\'en  in 
these  low  temperatures  we  had  no  fire  in  the  saloon  until 
the  New  Year. 

All  the  men  were  in  excellent  health  during  the  whole 
of  the  expedition,  and  we  are  all  agreed  that  the  Polar 
Sea  is  a  healthy  place,  especially  with  such  a  capital  sani- 
tarium as  the  Fj'am. 

'I  he  electric  light  was  produced  by  means  of  a  wind- 
mill, and  quite  fulfilled  our  expectations.  There  was  not, 
however,  sufificient  wind  to  allow  of  our  havinor  electric 
light  all  the  time,  and  we  then  had  to  content  ourselves 
with  ordinary  oil  lamps. 

On  the  whole,  the  time  passed  as  pleasantly  as  possible 


266  M-1XS/':.V  IX  THE  FROZEX  WORLD 

on  board.  Every  man  was  on  tlie  best  of  terms  with  his 
neighbor,  and  did  his  duty  with  a  will.  Care  was  of 
course  taken  to  provide  occupation ;  but  even  without  this, 
time  did  not  hang  heavy  on  our  hands.  For  those  who 
were  not  continually  occupied  in  scientific  observations 
and  investigations  there  was  abundant  entertainment  in  a 
capital  library,  games,  music,  various  kinds  of  work,  etc. ; 
and  I  think  hardly  any  of  us  greatly  felt  the  monotony 
complained  of  in  all  Arctic  expeditions.  For  us  who  had 
charge  of  the  scientific  observations  there  was  more  work 
than  we  could  accomplish.  The  J-'rain.  in  fact  consti- 
tuted an  observatory  of  the  best  kind  for  scientific  in- 
vestigations of  all  kinds;  and  it  is  therefore  scarcely  to 
be  wondered  at  that  we  should  brinu:  home  such  abun- 
dant  and  valuable  material  as  few  expeditions  before  us 
secured. 

Lieutenant  Sigurd  Scott-Hansen  was  responsible  for 
the  meteorological,  magnetic,  and  astronomical  observa- 
tions, which,  I  venture  to  say,  are  exceptionally  complete. 
Dr.  Blessing  undertook  the  greater  part  of  the  botanical 
investigations  and  observations  of  the  Aurora  Borealis, 
and  alx),  of  course,  his  physiological  and  medical  observa- 
tions, which  are  by  no  means  unimj^ortant.  In  addition 
to  these,  zoological  researches  were  made  on  board,  sound- 
ings, determination  of  the  temperature  and  the  salinity  of 
the  sea  water,  observations  of  the  atmospherical  electricity, 
and  much  besides. 

In  the  sea  near  the  .Siberian  coast  and  northward  to 
79^  N.  lat.,  I  found  only  very  inconsiderable  depths  —  less 
than  ninety  fathoms.  A  little  south  of  this  latitude,  how- 
ever, the  depth  increased  with  astonishing  raj^idity,  and  I 
found  the  sea  north  of  that  to  be  between  i, 600  and  1,900 


•■^tanrtSTjihl-Ber,    *•   Vf  WEST  ' 


I  i2s?fe-#5^ 


"tn 


f,  Northr..;.    /•        i^ 

W.m,j)f  ,..-^^V^  ~  V      KOLA 


'~~L.Mfk  "■'^"'■■''''^ 


ATTUAl   ROUTt   ShOAN 


Map  showing  the  Projected  and  Actual  Routes  of  tlie  "  Fram,"  and  Uic  Course  of  the  Sledge  Kx|>e(liti..n 


a68  X.-1.VS£.V  AV  THE   FROZEN  WORLD 

fathoms  deep.  It  therefore  seems  to  me  as  if  the  entire 
polar  basin  should  be  considered  as  a  continuation  of  the 
ileep  channel  which  runs  northward  from  the  North 
Atlantic  Ocean  between  Spitzbergen  and  Greenland. 
This  discovery  of  a  deep  polar  basin  overthrows,  however, 
all  earlier  theories  based  upon  a  shallow  Polar  Sea.  In 
the  numerous  bottom  samples  brought  to  the  surface  in 
our  soundings  I  always  found  a  remarkable  absence  of 
organic  life,  a  fact  which  will  probably  lead  to  some  alter- 
ation of  our  views  with  regard  to  bottom  deposits.  The 
temperature  and  salinity  of  the  sea  also  prove  to  be  very 
different  frt)m  the  suppositions  of  most  scientific  authori- 
ties. I  found,  not  far  below  the  cold  ice-water  covering 
the  surface  of  the  Polar  Sea,  a  deep  layer  of  warmer  and 
Salter  water,  originating  probably  in  the  Gulf  Stream,  its 
temperature  being  as  much  as  one  degree  above  freezing 
point.  Below  this,  indeed,  the  water  was  somewhat 
colder,  but  yet  considerably  warmer  tlian  is  generally 
sujjposed. 

The  sjDced  at  which  we  drifted  was  continually  chang- 
ing, and  our  course,  in  consequence,  was  not  a  straight 
line.  Sometimes  we  drifted  forward,  but  at  others  we 
went  back  again;  and  were  our  course  to  be  marked  on  a 
map  as  it  actually  was,  it  would  Idc  such  a  confusion  of 
loops  and  knots  that  no  one  would  be  able  to  make  any- 
thing of  it.  From  the  accompanying  outline  map,  how- 
ever, on  which  the  jDrincipal  features  of  our  course  are 
given,  a  good  impression  of  its  direction  may  be  obtained. 
As  we  expected,  we  drifted  most  in  a  northwesterly  direc- 
tion in  the  winter  and  spring,  while  northerly  winds 
stopped  us  in  the  summer. 

liy  June  iS  we  had  in  this  way  reached  8i°  52'  N.  lat., 


/•//A'   iov.k;/':  of  ////,  -i-ram-  ,6^ 

but  i^rcvailiiio-  nnitliuv.st  winds  a^ain  drove  us  south- 
ward, and  the  whole  of  that  suninicr  wc  drifted  about 
in  lower  latitudes.  Not  until  Oetober  21  chd  we  reach 
82°  N.  lat.  in  i  14"  9'  K.  long.  (Jn  the  evenin^t;  of  Christ- 
mas  Day,  1894,  ^i"  was  reached  in  about  105'  !<:.  Ioul;.. 
and  a  few  days  later  83"  24'  N.  hit.  —  the  most  northerly 
latitude  until  then  reached  by  man. 

On   January  4   and  5,  1895,  the   J^'raui  was  subjected  to 
the  greatest   pressure  we  experienced.      Before  we  set  out 
on  our  expedition  the  great  .Arctic  authorit\-,  Sir  Leopold 
McClintock,  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  Frani  would 
be  able  to  withstand  the  ice-pressure  in  the  summer,  but 
that  if  she  were  exposed  to  it  in  the  winter  he  believed 
the  probability  of  her  being  able  to  stand  the  pressure  or 
raise   herself  was   \'ery  slight.      Other   Arctic   authorities 
expressed   themselves   )et   niore    strongh',   sa\-ing   that    it 
was.  an  impossibility  for  any  shij)  to  stand  the  ice-pressure 
in   the  winter.      Now.  however,  the  Fravi  was  not  only  to 
be    exposed    to    winter  pressure,   but    she  was    then    fast 
frozen   in    ice  of   o\er    thirty   feet    in    thickness,   a   fact  of 
which    I    had  prexiously   ascertained    the  ti'uth    by  boring. 
Across  this  ice   immense  masses  of  ice  came  gliding  with 
irresistible  force  against  our  port  side.     The  {pressure  was 
tremendous.     The  ice  piled  itself  up  above   the  gunwales, 
and  high  u]^  the  rigging,  threatening,  if  not   to  crush   her, 
at  least  to  bury  her.     Scarcely  a  man  on   board   believed 
she  could  live.      The  necessary  |)ro\isions.  canvas  kaiaks, 
cooking  utensils,  fuel,  tents,  hand-sledges,  and  ski  were  all 
brought  in  safety  on  to  the  ice.     All  hands  were  rcadv  to 
leave   the  ship,  and  no  one  was  allowed  to  sleej)  unless 
fully  clothed. 

l^ut  the  I'rai)!  proved   to  be  stronger  than  our  faith  in 


2  70  A\IXS£JV  /X  THE  FROZEN    WORLD 

her.  When  the  pressure  was  at  its  height,  and  for  the 
first  time  her  timbers  and  beams  began  to  creak,  she 
broke  loose,  and  was  slowly  lifted  up  out  of  the  icy  bertli 
in  which  she  iiad  been  fast  frozen. 

It  was  a  triumph.  By  putting  together  the  very  worst 
po.ssibilities,  I  could  hardly  imagine  a  more  dangerous 
position  ft)r  a  vessel,  and  after  that  experience  I  consider 
the  Fnun  to  be  capable  of  anything.  Notwithstanding 
the  most  careful  examination,  we  have  not  been  able  to 
discover  a  single  crack,  a  single  s])linter  displaced  in  her. 

After  this  it  became  comparatively  quiet  as  regards  the 
pre.ssures,  and  we  drifted  on  rapidly  in  a  northerly  and 
n(  irtheasterly  direction. 


CHAPTKR    XV 

TIIK    CRKAT    SLKIH;!-;    1;.\  I'KI  )I  tion 

As  I  now  ti"i()U!j;lit  I  coultl  assume  willi  certainty  that 
the  Frani  in  a  short  time  would  reach  lier  highest  lati- 
tude north  of  I'^-anz  Josef  Land,  and  as  earl\-  as  the 
following  summer  would,  as  our  })lan  presu})i)osed,  he 
near  the  sea  north  of  Spitzbergen,  I  believed  the  oj^jjor- 
tunity  had  come  to  carry  out  a  jDlan  I  had  for  some  time 
entertained;  namely,  to  examine  the  sea  north  of  the 
Franis  course.  This  could  only  be  done  by  a  sledge  ex- 
pedition, which  could  not  reckon  upon  getting  back  again 
to  the  Fravt,  as  the  chance  of  refinding  a  vessel  drifting 
in  the  ice  was  small.  As  a  journey  of  this  kind  might 
appear  to  be  fraught  with  some  risk,  should  unforeseen 
hindrances  be  met  with,  I  felt  that  I  could  not  take  the 
responsibility  of  sending  an\'  one  else,  and  therefore  de- 
cided to  go  myself,  although  there  was  no  lack  on  board 
of  those  who  were  more  than  desirous  of  going.  I  chose 
as  my  companion  Lieutenant  Johansen,  who  gladly  ac- 
cepted the  ofTer  of  going.  The  command  of  the  remain- 
der of  the  exjjedition  or.  board  the  Inavi  I  left  in  Sver- 
drui)'s  hands. 

I  of  course  felt  some  hesitation  in  tlui.s  leaving  my 
companions  and  i:)lacing  the  resjjonsibility  for  tlieir  well- 
being  and  safety  in  the  hands  of  another;  but  witli  the 
perfect  confidence  that  I  had  in  Sverdrup's  capability  as 
a  leader  and  power  of  t)vercoming  difficulties,  I   had  no 


272  X.LyS£X  /X  THE  FROZEX  WORLD 

fear  of  his  not  bringing  all  hands  safely  home,  even 
sliould  the  worst  happen  and  they  have  to  abandon  the 
Fram;  an  event,  however,  which  I  deemed  highly  im- 
probable. 

All  the  winter  I  had  been  busy  making  preparations  for 
this  expedition.  I  had  had  new  strong  sledges  made  on 
board  specially  calculated  for  being  drawn  by  dogs  over 
the  uneven  ice.  Next  I  had  made  two  kaiaks,  twelve  feet 
in  length,  and  so  roomy  that  they  could  each  carry  a  man 
with  provisions  for  four  months,  as  well  as  some  dogs  on 
the  deck.  The  framework  of  these  was  made  of  bamboo 
and  covered  w ith  can\as.  When  completed  they  weighed 
about  forty  pounds  each.  The  provisions,  w^hich  consisted 
exclusively  of  the  best  kinds  of  dried  and  greatly  con- 
densed articles  of  food,  —  chiefly  dried  meat,  dried  fish, 
steam-cooked  oatmeal,  biscuits,  butter,  etc.,  etc.,  —  were 
stowed  awav  in  canvas  bags  of  convenient  size.  We  had 
constantly  driven  the  dogs  to  keep  them  in  training  for 
the  journey,  and  all  kinds  of  experiments  had  been  tried 
with  the  tent,  sleeping-bag,  etc. 

It  was  my  intention  to  leave  the  Fram  as  soon  as  the 
dawning  polar  day  would  allow^  of  our  traversing  the 
rough  drift  ice.  So  on  February  26,  with  six  sledges, 
twenty-eight  dogs,  two  kaiaks,  and  provisions  for  men 
and  dogs  for  several  months,  Johansen  and  I  left  the 
Fram.  However,  after  four  days'  toiling  with  all  these 
sledges  over  the  rough  ice,  we  saw  that,  thus  heavily 
laden,  we  should  not  be  able  to  reach  our  goal  in  good 
time.  The  dogs  could  not  on  this  ice  draw  as  much  as 
we  had  expected  of  them  ;  and  we  therefore  decided  to 
return  to  the  shij),  in  order  to  reduce  the  number  of  our 
sledges  and  the  quantity  of  our  ]^rovisions,  and  to  wait  a 
little  longer  before  setting  off. 


18 


=  74 


X.LVS/^X  LV  THE   FROZEN  WORLD 


On  March  3,  just  as  \vc  were  approacliing  tlic  Fram, 
the  sun  appeared  above  the  horizon  for  the  first  time  that 
spriiii;,  after  the  longest  polar  night  ever  experienced  by 
man.  Observations  taken  on  the  same  day  showed  that 
we  had  reached  a  latitude  of  84°  4'  N. 


r.>^. 


DR.   NANSEN    AND   LIEUTENANT  JOHANSEN   LEAVING   THE   "  FRAM  " 

A  few  da\s  were  again  s]Dent  in  preparations.  It  was 
now  my  plan  to  take  witli  us  only  dog  provisions  for  one 
niontli  and  jjrovisions  for  the  men  for  a  hundred  days, 
and  with  this  liglit  equii)ment  try  to  pass  Cjuickly  on 
over  the  ice.  We  thus  need  not  set  off  so  early,  and 
it  was  not  until  March  14  that  we  again  said  farewell  to 
our  companions,  this  time  in  earnest.  We  had  now  only 
three  sledges,  on  two  of  which  lay  our  two  kaiaks,  and 
wc  had  the  same  twenty-eight  dogs  as  before.  It  was 
my  hope  that  as  we  got  farther  north  wc  should  {mm\ 
smoother  ice,  the  ice  there  being  older,  and  its  uneven- 


THE    GREAT  SLEDGE   EX/'ED/T/OX  275 

ncss  therefore  l)etter  covered  up  by  the  ch-iftin^  snow. 
This  ajjpeared  at  first  to  be  the  case.  W'c  found  the  ice 
tolerably  easy  to  _<;et  over,  and  did  some  good  days' 
niarrhes.  On  March  22  we  had  already  reached  85^  10' 
N.  lat.,  and  we  calculated  that  ue  tould  co\er  t;reater  and 
greater  distances  as  the  sledge-loads  grew  lighter  with  the 
daily  consumption  of  food  on  the  part  of  both  men  and 
dogs.  The  dogs,  too,  ajjpeared  to  hold  out  fairly  well. 
Hut  by  and  by  the  Hoes  began  to  be  more  uneven,  and 
packed  together,  and  the  drift,  which  until  then  had 
seemed  to  be  slight,  was  now  against  us.  On  March  25 
we  had  reached  CS5'  k/  N.  lat.;  on  the  29111,  .S5  30'. 
The  ice  was  obviously  drifting  southward  at  a  good  rale, 
while  at  the  same  lime  our  j^rogress  over  the  rou'di  ice 
was  slow.  It  was  a  never-ending  labor,  forcing  our  way 
through  and  getting  the  sledges  over  the  high  hummocks 
and  piled-up  ridges  of  ice,  which  were  alwavs  being 
formed  afresh,  and  which  the  snow-storm  never  had  time 
to  smooth  over.  On  such  ice  the  dogs,  of  course,  were  of 
very  little  assistance.  When  they  came  to  obstacles  such 
as  these  they  waited  jxatiently  until  we  had  carried  the 
sledges  safely  over,  and  they  could  once  more  draw  them 
on  over  a  short  stretch  of  le\el  ice  to  a  fiv>h  obstacle. 

The  ice  was  in  constant  movement  and  thundering 
around  us  on  all  sides.  On  .\\)v\\  ;  we  were  in  S5'  59' 
N.  lat.  W  c  i)ushed  on  with  all  our  might,  always  hojiing 
for  better  ice.  On  April  4  we  reached  ^6^  3':  but  the 
ice  grew  worse,  until  at  last  on  April  7  it  ua>>  so  bad 
that  I  thought  it  unadvisable  to  continue  any  fartiier  to- 
ward the  north.  If  it  were  like  this  in  the  direction  of 
I'Vanz  Josef  Land,  we  might  have  difficulty  enough  in 
getting    there.     We   were    then    in   S6'    14'   N.    lat.,  and 


276  A'.-l.yS/t.V  /X  THE   FROZEN  WORLD 

about  95'  H.  long.  In  order  to  investigate  the  state  of 
the  ice  and  the  possibility  of  advance,  I  went  farther 
north  on  ski,  but  could  discern  no  likely  way.  From  the 
highest  luimmock  1  could  find,  I  saw  only  packed  and 
piled-up  ice  as  far  as  the  horizon. 

1  lere,  as  during  our  whole  journey,  we  saw  no  sign  of 
land  in  any  direction.  The  ice  a])peared  to  drift  before 
the  wind  without  being  stopped  by  mainland  or  islands 
for  a  distance  of  many  miles  ;  and  it  seems  to  me  scarcely 
jjrobable  that  land  will  be  found  on  this  side  of  the  North 
l\)le,  even  if  we  must  suj^pose  that  on  the  other  side  any- 
thing like  a  continuation  of  the  North  American  archi- 
pelago may  be  found  toward  the  north. 

The  first  time  we  set  out  from  the  Fram  we  had  had 
our  good  warm  wolf-skin  clothes  with  us  ;  but  as  spring 
was  approaching,  and  the  temperature  had  latterly  been 
comparatively  high,  we  did  not  think  we  should  again 
have  \'ery  low  temperatures,  and  therefore,  to  save  weight 
and  make  the  caravan  as  easy  of  transport  as  possible,  we 
reduced  the  outfit  to  a  minimum,  and  left  our  warm  fur 
clothing  on  board  when  we  left  the  Fram  for  the  second 
time,  a  proceeding  that  we  were  subsequently  to  repent 
bitterly. 

For  about  three  weeks  the  temperature  remained  at 
about  40^  below  zero,  rising  on  April  i  to  7.6°  below 
zero,  but  soon  sinking  again  to  36.4°  below  zero.  With 
such  a  temperature  and  a  wind,  we  often  felt  it  bitterly 
cold  in  our  good  but  too  light  woollen  clothing,  which, 
owing  to  the  perspiration  of  the  body,  was  gradually 
transformed  into  an  icy  coat  of  mail.  It  was  worse  with 
our  outer  woollen  jackets,  which  became  covered  with  a 
thick  layer  of  ice,  which  it  took  us  fully  an  hour  to  thaw 


THE    GKh.A'r  SI.I:JH;I:     /■:.\ /•/■  / )/77(K\'  277 

every  iiiolU  in  our  .slL'L'i)inL;-l)ai;,  no  lilllc  phy.sical  heal 
bcino-  s])L'nt  on  the  process;  antl  not  until  we  liad  lain 
with  ehatterini;  teeth  for  about  an  hour  and  a  half  did 
we  bei;in  to  tee!  at  all  comfortable.  A  few  minutes  after 
we  got  out  of  our  sleeping-bag  in  the  morning,  our  clothes 
were  again  transformed  into  ice;  and  I  scarcely  think 
that  either  Johansen  or  1  will  ever  wish  iov  a  repetition 
of  those  days.  In  March  the  minimum  temjieraturc  was 
49'  below  zero,  the  maximum  4    below  zero. 

It  was  on  Ai)ril  S  that  we  altered  our  course  and  be- 
gan our  wanderings  toward  Cape  I'digely,  in  Franz  Josef 
Land.  l'"or  a  time  we  still  had  the  same  toilsome  kind  of 
road  to  go  ;  but  after  one  day's  march  the  ice  became  bet- 
ter, and  its  jxissage  somewhat  easier.  It  was  our  habit  to 
wind  uj)  our  watches  every  evening  when  we  got  into  our 
sleeping-bags.  Being,  howexer,  \ery  anxious  to  get  on, 
our  day's  march  was  sometimes  wry  long,  and  on  April 
12  more  than  thirty-six  hours  had  elapsed  before  we 
again  crept  into  our  bags;  and  when  we  then  thought  of 
our  watches  they  had  run  down.  This  was  an  unfortunate 
occurrence.  I  had  taken  no  observations  for  longitude 
for  three  days.  I  of  course  took  an  observation  for  time 
tlie  following  day,  but  was  obliged  to  make  a  reckoning 
for  the  three  intermediate  days'  journey,  which,  however, 
I  knew  must  be  fairly  accurate,  even  though  I  could  not 
tell  how  much  the  ice  lirul  drifted  in  that  time.  In  order 
to  have  our  time  once  more  cjuite  exact,  I  now  wanted  to 
take  some  lunar  distances;  but  on  setting  about  it  I  dis- 
covered that  the  table  necessary  for  their  calculation  had 
been  left  on  board  by  mistake.  We  naturally,  during  the 
rest  of  our  journey,  continued  to  take  obserwitions  for 
longitude  with  just  as  much  care,  and  thought  that  we 
could  not  be  verv  far  out. 


J 78  AUXS£iV  /X  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

When  we  arrived  at  85°  N.  lat.  on  April  25,  to  our 
astonisliment  we  came  upon  two  fox  tracks.  This  seemed 
to  imply  that  we  were  near  some  land ;  but  nothing  of 
the  kind  was  visible,  notwithstanding  the  clear  weather. 
What  now  most  hindered  our  progress  were  the  cracks 
and  channels  in  the  ice.  In  that  low  temperature  they 
were,  as  a  rule,  covered  with  a  tliin  sheet  of  ice,  which 
made  it  im]3ossible  to  use  our  kaiaks  in  getting  across. 
We  were  therefore  often  compelled  to  go  a  round  of 
many  miles,  and  it  would  sometimes  take  half  a  day  to 
get  past  a  channel  of  this  kind.  The  farther  south  we 
came,  the  more  of  these  there  were,  and  they  greatly 
hindered  our  advance ;  while  provisions  were  dwindling, 
and  the  dogs  had  to  be  killed  one  after  another  to  feed 
the  remainder.  Some  of  the  dogs  at  first  evinced  great 
aversion  to  eating  their  companions  ;  but  as  their  hunger 
increa.sed,  and  they  got  nothing  else  to  eat,  they  gradu- 
ally became  so  voracious  for  this  food  that  it  was  diffi- 
cult to  keep  them  from  it  as  soon  as  a  dog  was  killed. 

Their  rations  had  to  be  gradually  reduced  to  the  small- 
est possible  amount,  so  as  to  make  the  little  w^e  had  go  far 
enough,  and  keej)  them  alive  as  long  as  possible;  but  by 
degrees  they  grew  sadly  worn  out.  Many  of  them  drew 
their  load  faithfully  until  tlie)-  suddenly  dropped  down 
with  fatigue,  unable  to  stand  any  longer.  We  then  had 
no  other  choice  than  to  kill  them  on  the  spot,  or  to  lay 
them  on  one  of  the  sledges,  and  take  them  with  us  to  kill 
them  when  we  i)il(  hed  our  camp  in  the  evening. 

In  June  the  channels  became  more  numerous  and 
more  difficult  than  ever  to  deal  with,  and  the  state  of  the 
ice  was  very  bad.  Dogs,  ski,  and  sledge-runners  broke 
through  the  crust  on  the  snow,  and  sank  deep  into  the 


yy/A  (,j<i-:.i'r  si.J'Jx;!-:  Kxrij)/ iion 


279 


soft  and  wet  snow  beneath.  The  luiniher  of  cIol^s  now, 
too,  was  very  small,  and  was  continually  diminishing. 
Ad\ance  seemed  almost  hopeless,  hut  we  had  no  choice, 
and  so  toiled  on  as  l)e>t  we  could,  while  the  rations  for 
both  dogs  and  men  were  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

It  is  well  known  that,  according  to  Payer's  maj),  there 
is  a  land  north  of  bran/  josef  Land,  in  about  .S3"  N.  hit., 
wliicli  he  has  called  I'etermann  Land.  It  had  been  m\' 
intention  to  try  first  to  gain  this  land,  where  jjrogrcss 
would  probably  ha\e  been  easy,  and  where  we  could 
have  reckoned  on  fmding  sufficient  game  for  our  rifles. 
According  to  our  reckoning,  too,  we  ought  now  to  have 
been  in  the  longitude  of  this  land  ;  but  we  came  farther 
and  farther  south  without  being  able  to  descry  any  land 
at  all.  i\t  the  end  of  ALay  we  were  in  .S2  21'  X.  hit.; 
on  June  4,  in  <S2'  iS'.  1^-  June  15  we  had  drifted  north- 
west into  82"^  26',  and  should  not  then  have  been  more 
than  about  twenty  miles  north  of  Caj)e  IHigely.  We  still, 
however,  could  see  no  land.  This  became  more  and  more 
|)U//ling,  and  the  state  of  the  ice  grew  continually  worse. 
At  l.ist,  on  June  22.  we  shot  a  large  seal,  and  now  deter- 
mined to  wait  until  the  snow  melted,  in  the  mean  time 
living  ui)on  seal's  flesh.  A  little  later  we  shot  three  l)eai-s. 
and  we  now  had  abundance  of  food,  so  that  our  two 
remaining  dogs  could  be  well  fed  on  raw  meat.  It  was 
not  until  July  22  that  we  once  more  set  out  over  tolerably 
good  ice,  and  two  davs  later  we  at  length  came  in  sight  of 
unknown  land.  We  were  then  in  about  S2°  N\  lat..  but 
we  were  to  liave  a  hard  struggle  to  reacii  this  land. 

One  day  during  that  time  we  had  an  adventure  whit  h 
might  have  been  much  more  serious.  W  c  were  just 
al)out   to  cross  a  channel    in  the  ice   in   our  kaiaks.      '1  hi> 


ago  uVJXSEX  /y  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

was  generally  acconiplibhcd  by  tying  the  two  kaiaks 
toi^ethcr  on  the  ice,  then  placing  them  on  the  water,  and, 
after  creeping  with  the  dogs  out  on  to  the  deck,  i)addling 
across.  This  time  we  had  just  brought  \w\  kaiak  up  to 
the  edge  of  the  tioe,  and  while  I  was  busy  with  it  Johan- 
sen  turned  back  to  draw  up  his  kaiak  beside  it.  Suddenly 
I  heard  a  noise  behind  me,  and,  turning,  saw  Johansen  on 
his  back  with  a  bear  over  him,  and  holding  the  bear  by 
the  throat.  1  caught  at  my  gun,  which  lay  on  the  fore- 
deck  of  mv  kaiak  ;  but  at  the  same  moment  the  boat  slid 
into  the  water,  and  the  gun  with  it.  By  exerting  all  my 
strength  1  hauled  the  heavily  laden  kaiak  up  again,  but 
while  doing  so  I  heard  Johansen  quietly  remark,  "  You 
must  hurry  up  if  you  don't  want  to  be  too  late."  At  last 
I  got  the  gun  out  of  its  case ;  and  as  I  turned  round  with 
it  cocked,  the  bear  was  just  in  front  of  me.  In  the  hurry 
of  the  moment  I  had  cocked  the  right  barrel,  which  was 
loaded  with  shot;  but  the  charge  took  effect  behind  the 
ear,  and  the  bear  fell  down  dead  between  us.  The  only 
wound  Johansen  had  received  was  a  slight  scratch  on  the 
back  of  one  hand,  and  we  went  on  our  way  well  laden 
with  fresh  bear's  flesh. 

The  current  was  strong,  and  the  ice  was  broken  up  all 
over  into  small  floes.  The  channels  between  were,  as  a 
rule,  filled  with  small  ice-pieces  and  crushed  ice,  making 
it  impossible  to  use  our  kaiaks.  We  therefore  had  to  leap 
from  one  block  of  ice  to  another,  dragging  our  sledges 
after  us,  with  the  constant  fear  of  seeing  them  upset  into 
the  water.  We  continued  this  for  a  fortnight,  and  it  was 
not  until  August  6  that  we  reached  land  in  8i°  38'  N.  lat, 
and  63''  H.  long.  This  first  land  consisted  of  four  entirely 
glacier-covered  islands,  which   I  called   Hirttenland,  after 


THE    GJ<liAT  SI. K DUE    KX/'EDlTJO.\  281 

an  old  Nor\VL-,i;iaii  fairy  talc.  Aloiii;-  the  north  .side  of 
these  islands  Ihnc  was  ()|)L'n  water,  iijjon  which  \vc  rowed 
westward  in  our  kaiaks.  When  we  reached  this  oj)en 
water  there  was  little  i)r()si)ect  of  our  having-  niueh  more 
use  for  the  two  dogs  we  still  had  left  ;  and  as  it  was  not  a 
little  inconvenient  to  take  tiiein  with  us  on  the  sea,  we 
shot  them  and  left  them  on  the  drift  ice. 

In  these  waters  we  matle  a  remarkable  ornithological 
discovery  ;  for  as  long  as  we  were  in  the  neighborhood  of 
these  islands  we  daily  saw  numbers  of  the  hitherto  so 
rare,  so  mysterious,  and  so  little  known  Ross's  gull  {Rodo- 
sietia  rosea).  This,  the  most  markedly  polar  of  all  bird 
forms,  is  easily  recognizable  from  other  species  of  gull  bv 
its  beautiful  rose-colored  breast,  its  wedge-shaj)ed  tail,  and 
airy  flight.  It  is  without  comparison  the  most  beautiful 
of  all  the  animal  forms  of  the  frozen  regions.  Hitherto  it 
has  only  been  seen  by  chance  on  the  utmost  confines  of 
the  unknown  Polar  Sea,  and  no  one  knew  whence  it  came 
or  whither  it  went ;  but  here  we  had  unexpectedly  come 
upon  its  native  haunt,  and,  although  it  was  too  late  in  the 
year  to  find  its  nests,  there  could  be  no  doubt  about  its 
breeding  in  this  region. 

During  the  next  few  days,  a  thick  fog  prevented  us 
from  discovering  land  south  of  these  islands;  but  on 
August  12  the  fog  lifted  a  little,  and  an  extensive  land,  or 
rather  a- chain  of  islan.ds,  now  lav  before  us  to  the  west 
and  .south,  extending  from  the  southeast  right  uj3  to  the 
northwest.  This  was  more  and  more  puzzling.  Tliere 
was  nothing  to  be  found  in  Payer's  maj)  agreeing  with  it. 
I  thought  we  must  be  \ery  nearl\-  in  the  same  longitude 
as  Austria  .Sound;  but  if  this  was  correct,  we  were  now 
in   the  a(  t  of  sailing  right  across  Wilc/ek    Land  and   the 


282  .V.LVS£X  IN  THE  JKOZEN  WORLD 

Dove  Glacier,  without  getting  a  glimpse  of  any  land  near. 
Nor  could  I  discover  any  indication  of  Austria  Sound  in 
its  northern  part ;  and  Rawlinson's  Sound,  too,  had  van- 
i>hed.  It  i>  therefore  scarcely  surprising  that  I  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  there  must  be  some  considerable  error 
in  our  longitude.  How,  indeed,  this  could  be  was  not 
clear  to  me  ;  but  I  concluded  that  either  our  watches 
must  ha\-e  gone  completely  wrong  of  late,  or  that  during 
the  three  days  before  April  12  we  had  drifted  a  most  re- 
markable distance.  However  this  might  be,  I  could  only 
suppose  that  we  had  now  arrixed  at  the  unknown  west 
coast  of  Franz  Josef  Land,  or  to  that  mysterious  land 
which  always  on  maps  goes  by  the  name  of  Gilis  Land, 
and  which  is  generally  placed  between  Franz  Josef  Land 
and  Spitzbergen.  Of  one  thing,  however,  I  was  certain ; 
namely,  that  by  steering  south  and  southwest  we  must  at 
last  come  to  Spitzbergen,  our  actual  goal,  where  we  should 
find  Norwegian  walrus-sloops,  which  could  take  us  home 
at  once.  We  therefore  continued,  now  paddling,  now 
dragging  o\'er  the  ice,  westward  through  a  sound  which 
lay  in  ST'  30'  N.  lat.  Having  got  through  this,  we  found 
a  large  piece  of  open  water,  ujDon  which  we  paddled  south- 
west along  the  northwest  shore  of  the  land,  hoping  soon 
to  be  able  to  cross  over  the  sea  to  Spitzbergen.  In  vain 
did  we  search  for  land  in  the  west.  On  August  18  a 
wind  from  the  sea  suddenly  drove  the  ice  in  toward  the 
shore,  and  we  were  imi)risoned  for  a  week.  After  again 
continuing  our  journey  for  a  day  or  two,  we  were  once 
more  imprisoned,  on  26th  August,  in  about  81°  13'  N. 
lat.  and  55.] '  I^;;.  long.  The  autumn  was  now  so  far  ad- 
vanced that  I  considered  it  would  be  too  late  to  begin  the 
long   journey    to   Spitzbergen,  where  we  could    scarcely 


,84  A\-l.VS£y  IX  THE   FROZEX  WORLD 

expect  to  arrive  in  time  to  find  any  ships  going  home,  and 
where  we  sliould  accordingly  have  to  winter  without  hav- 
ing time  enough  to  lay  in  provisions  and  make  prepara- 
tions for  it.  As  the  place  we  had  reached  seemed  well 
fitted  for  wintering  in,  and  there  appeared  to  be  sufficient 
opportunity  for  getting  game,  we  thought  it  safest  to  stop 
here  and  prepare  for  the  winter. 

We  immediately  set  to  work  to  shoot  walrus,  the  blub- 
ber of  which  we  intended  to  use  for  firing.  For  two  men, 
however,  the  manipulation  of  these  huge  animals  was 
attended  with  considerable  toil.  W'c  had  at  last  to  give 
UD  dra^rcrintr  them  up  on  land  or  on  to  the  ice,  and  our 
only  expedient  was  to  lie  on  them  in  the  water  while  re- 
moving the  hide  and  blubber,  during  which  process  we 
succeeded  in  getting  our  only  clothes  thoroughly  satu- 
rated with  oil  and  dirt,  thus  rendering  tlicm  peculiarly 
unfitted  for  protection  against  the  winter  cold  and  storms. 
There  was  no  scarcity  of  bears,  and  we  shot  them  for  our 
winter  store  of  food.  After  having  laid  in  a  temporary 
supply,  we  set  to  work  on  our  hut,  which  was  built  of 
stone,  earth,  and  moss.  How  we  were  to  roof  it  seemed 
at  first  a  difficult  problem  to  solve.  Fortunately,  how- 
ever, we  found  a  piece  of  timber  cast  up  on  the  shore. 
This  we  used  as  the  ridgepiece  of  the  house,  and  stretched 
walrus  hides  over  it,  weiorhted  at  the  edcres  on  both  sides 
with  large  stones.  On  the  top  of  this  we  laid  snow.  To 
build  a  chimney  was  not  easy,  as  we  had  not  the  stones 
necessary.  Our  only  expedient  was  therefore  to  build  it 
of  ice  and  snow,  which  had  to  be  renewed,  however,  two 
or  three  times  in  the  course  of  the  winter. 

For   cooking,    lighting,    and    heating,  we    used   walrus 
blubber  and  bear's  fat.     Bear's  flesh  and  fat  was  our  only 


THE    GREAT  SLEDGE   JiXrEDITJON  285 

food.  In  the  evening  we  fried  il  in  a  large  aluminium 
frying-jjan  ;  in  the  morning  we  boiled  it.  We  made  our 
bed  and  slee})ing-bag  of  bear-.skin.  To  keej)  warmer,  we 
both  slej)t  in  one  bag,  and,  taken  altogether,  we  were 
quite  comfortal^le  in  our  low  hut,  of  which  a  great  part 
lay  below  the  level  of  the  ground,  and  was  therefore  fairly 
well  protected  from  the  violent  winter  storms  which  con- 
tinually raged  above  it.  By  the  helj)  of  our  lamjis  we 
succeeded  in  keeping  the  temperature  inside  at  about 
freezing-point,  while  on  the  walls  it  was,  of  course,  consid- 
erably lower.  These  were  covered  with  a  thick  coating  of 
frost  and  ice,  which  in  the  lamj^light  im])aited  a  beautiful 
marmoreal  appearance  to  the  walls  of  the  hut,  so  that  in 
our  happier  moments  we  could  dream  that  we  dwelt  in 
marble  halls.  The  hut  was  about  ten  feet  long,  six  feet 
broad,  and  high  enough  in  some  j)laces  to  allow  of  our 
standing  almost  erect.  Our  couch  was  formed  of  rough 
stones  ;  we  never  quite  succeeded  in  getting  it  even  tol- 
erably level,  and  our  most  important  business  throughout 
the  winter  was,  therefore,  to  bend  the  body  into  the  most 
varied  ]:)ositions  in  order  to  discover  the  one  in  which  the 
pressure  of  the  stones  was  least  felt. 

We  had  no  work  which  could  help  to  make  the  time 
pass:  we  did  little  else  than  sleep,  cat,  and  then  slcej) 
again.  If  any  one  still  holds  the  old  belief  that  scurvy 
arises  from  want  of  exercise,  this  is  a  striking  proof  that 
such  is  not  the  case.  Strange  to  say.  our  ai)pctitcs  con- 
tinued unimpaired  the  whole  time,  and  we  always  con- 
sumed our  bear's  flesh  and  our  fat  w  ith  the  same  voracity. 
When  the  weather  permitted,  we  would  take  an  hour's 
walk  every  day  in  the  dark  outside  the  hut ;  but  often  it 
was  so  stormy  that  it  was  not  expedient  to  put  one's  nose 


,S6  X.-iyS£X  AV  T//Jt   FROZEN  WORLD 

beyond  the  passage  which  led  to  our  palace.  Several  days 
would  often  pass^in  which  we  lay  quite  still,  until  at  last  a 
scarcity  of  ice  to  melt  for  drinking-water,  or  of  food,  com- 
pelled us  to  go  out  to  fetch  ice  or  to  drag  in  the  carcass  or 
leg  of  a  bear.  After  November  we  were  not  visited  again 
b)"^ bears  until  March,  and  our  only  company  in  the  winter 
was  a  number  of  foxes  which  constantly  sat  upon  the  roof 
of  our  hut,  whence  we  could  hear  their  perpetual  gnawing 
at  our  frozen  meat.  It  made  us  often  dream  that  we 
were  sitting  comfortably  at  home  listening  to  the  rats  in 
the  loft  above;  and  we  by  no  means  grudged  them  a 
little  of  all  our  abundance.  These  foxes  were  of  both  the 
white  variety  and  the  valuable  dark-furred  kind,  and  had 
we  been  so  inclined  we  could  easily  have  laid  by  a  good 
store  of  valuable  furs.  Our  supply  of  ammunition,  how- 
ever, was  not  so  large  as  to  allow\  in  my  opinion,  of  our 
spending  it  upon  them,  for  it  seemed  to  me  that  bears 
were  the  smallest  game  that  could  give  us  any  return  for 
our  cartridges. 

Upon  the  whole,  the  winter  passed  in  a  manner  beyond 
our  expectation.  Our  health  was  excellent ;  and  if  we 
had  only  had  a  few  books,  a  little  flour,  and  a  little  sugar, 
we  were  both  agreed  that  we  could  have  lived  like  lords. 

At  last  came  spring  with  sunshine  and  birds.  How 
well  I  remember  that  first  evening,  a  few  days  before  the 
sun  had  ap])eared  above  the  horizon,  when  we  suddenly 
saw  a  flock  of  little  auks  {rotges)  sail  past  us  along  the 
mountains  to  the  north.  It  was  like  the  first  greeting 
from  life  and  sj^ring.  Many  followed  in  their  train,  and 
.soon  the  mountains  around  us  swarmed  with  these  little 
summer  visitors  of  the  north,  which  enlivened  everything 
with  their  cheerful  twittering.     A  dark  sky,  which  we  had 


77/A    GREAT  SLEDGE    EXri.DmON  2S7 

had  the  whole  winter,  but  especially  now  in  the  sjJiini;,  in 
the  south  and  southwest,  seemed  to  imply  that  there  must 
1)e  water  in  that  direction,  of  which  it  was  a  reflection. 
We  had,  therefore,  every  hope  of  making"  a  (|uicl<  and 
easy  voyage  in  our  kaiaks  across  to  S])itzberc;en,  i)artly 
o\er  ojKMi  water,  partly  over  drift  ice  ;  and  as  daylii^ht 
had  now  returned,  we  busied  ourselves  in  preparations  for 
til  is  journey. 

There  was  much,  however,  to  be  done  before  we  could 
set  off.  Our  clothes  were  so  worn  out  and  so  saturated 
with  fat  and  dirt,  that  they  were  anything  but  suitable  for 
a  journey  of  this  kind.  We  therefore  made  ourselves 
two  entire  new  suits  out  of  two  blankets  we  had  brought 
with  us.  Our  underclothing  we  tried  to  wash  as  best  we 
coultl,  but  ne\er  before  did  I  know  wlial  it  was  to  exist 
without  soap.  It  was  difficult  enough  to  get  one's  j)er^on 
clean,  but  this  we  managed  to  a  certain  extent  by  rubbing 
in  bear's  blood  and  fat,  and  then  rubbing  this  off  with 
moss.  But  this  process  was  not  a|)plical)le  to  clothes. 
After  trying  every  possible  way,  we  found,  in  our  despair, 
no  other  expedient  than  to  boil  them  as  best  we  could, 
and  then  scrape  them  with  a  knife.  In  this  wav  we  got 
so  much  off  them  that  they  did  to  travel  with,  though  the 
thought  of  putting  on  clean  clothes  when  we  once  more 
got  back  to  Norway  was  always  in  our  minds  as  the 
greatest  enjo\-ment  tlial  life  could  bestow.  We  had  to 
make  a  new  sleeping-bag  of  bear-skins,  which  we  dried 
and  prepared  by  stretching  them  out  under  the  roof  of 
our  hut.  (^ur  good,  precious  silk  tent,  which  we  had  had 
during  the  whole  of  the  preceding  year's  journey,  had  at 
last,  during  the  autumn  storms,  become  so  worn  out  that 
I    did    not   think   it   could    be   used   anv  more.      We   weri- 


iS8  A:ixs\F:.y  ix  the  frozen  world 

now,  therefore,  obliged  to  employ  our  sledge  sails  as  a 
tent.  Our  provisions  for  the  journey  were  chiefly  bear's 
Hesh  and  fat,  and  our  fuel  was  train  oil  and  blubber,  and 
we  were  sure  of  finding  sufficient  game  on  the  way  when 
the  provisions  we  took  with  us  gave  out. 

At  length,  on  May  19,  we  were  ready,  and  started 
southward  in  short  day's  marches.  On  May  23,  in  81° 
5'  N.  lat.,  we  came  to  the  open  water,  of  w^hich,  during 
the  whole  winter  and  spring,  we  had  seen  the  reflection 
above  the  horizon  ;  and  we  now  rejoiced  at  the  thought 
of  going  south  in  our  kaiaks.  Storms,  however,  detained 
us  until  June  3.  These  storms  had  caused  the  ice  to  set 
in  and  block  the  water,  so  that  we  now  went  south  over 
the  ice,  a  favorable  wind  permitting  us  to  make  use  of 
sails  on  our  sledges,  so  that  we  got  on  at  a  good  rate.  A 
little  farther  south  we  found  extensive  tracts  of  land, 
whose  nortliern  coast  stretched  in  a  westerly  direction. 
To  the  west-northwest  along  this  coast  lay  open  water. 
I  was  in  doubt  for  a  while  as  to  whether  we  ought  not 
to  take  to  the  water,  and  go  on  in  that  direction,  but 
thought  that  this  would  again  take  us  too  far  north,  and 
therefore  preferred  to  steer  south  over  flat  ice  through  a 
broad,  unknown  sound.  Here,  too,  a  favorable  wind  per- 
mitted the  emjjloyment  of  sails  on  our  sledges,  and  we 
went  along  at  a  really  considerable  speed. 

On  June  12  we  at  last  reached  the  south  side  of  the 
g-rouj;  of  inlands,  and  there  came  upon  a  large  open  piece 
of  water,  extending  westward  along  the  south  coast. 
The  wind  was  still  favorable.  By  tying  together  our  two 
kaiaks,  rigging  up  a  bamboo  rod  as  mast  on  them,  and 
then  hoisting  our  sledge  sails,  we  were  now  able  to  sail 
upon   this  open  water  along  the  coast,  and   in  this  way 


^  > 


r  = 

o 


^ 


Vi 


..go  X.-iySJtA'  /X  THE  FROZEN  IVOKLD 

made  ^^ood  progress.     When  the  wind  dropped  or  became 
less  favorable,  we  took  dow  n  our  sails  and  paddled  on. 

In  this  way  we  began  to  approach  the  southwestern 
point  of  the  group  of  islands,  and  rejoiced  at  the  thought 
of  being  able  to  cross  over  to  Spitzbergen,  where  in  the 
ct)urse  of  a  few  weeks  we  were  certain  to  be  on  board  a 
homeward-bound  Norwegian  vessel. 

As  we  passed  along  this  coast  we  noticed  how  remark- 
ably the  latitude  I  obtained  by  my  observations  agreed 
with  the  latitude  that  Leigh-Smith  had  found  for  the 
south  coast  of  I'ranz  Josef  Land.  It  was  also  remarka- 
ble how  well,  botli  in  direction  and  a])pearance,  this  coast 
seemed  to  agree  with  Leigh-Smith's  ma}) ;  and  I  there- 
fore began  to  suspect  that  in  spite  of  everything  we  were 
.^till  on  the  south  coast  of  Franz  Josef  Land,  and  had 
conie  south  through  a  wide  sound  cutting  straight  across 
Zich\'  Land,  which  has  hitherto  been  regarded  as  con- 
tinuous, but  now  resolves  itself  into  a  chain  of  small 
islands. 

During  our  voyage  along  this  south  coast  we  liad  sev- 
eral misha])s.  which,  however,  ended  happily.  One  day, 
when  \\(i  had  been  sailing  along  the  shore,  we  lay  to  in 
the  evening  to  the  ice  to  reconnoitre  our  fartlier  way 
westward.  In  leaving  the  kaiaks,  we  niade  them  fast  to 
the  ice  by  a  strong  strap,  which  we  tliought  was  perfectly 
reliable.  While  we  were  a  little  way  off  on  the  top  of  a 
hummock,  however,  we  discovered  that  our  linked  boats 
had  broken  from  their  moorings  and  were  rapidly  drift- 
ing away  from  the  ice,  carried  along  l^y  the  wind.  All 
our  ])rovisif)ns  were  on  board,  our  whole  outfit,  our  guns, 
and  our  ammunition.  There  we  stood  upon  the  ice,  en- 
tirih-  without  resource.     Our  only  safety  lay  in  reaching 


'I'll J:    GKJ'.AT  SLKDGK    KXIl-.niJ/OX  2<ji 

our  kaiaks,  and    I   had   no  choice  but   to  spiinL;  into  tlic 
water  and  try  to  reach  them  by  swimming. 

It  was,  however,  a  struggle  for  Hfe,  for  the  kaiaks 
seemed  to  drift  more  rai)idly  before  the  wind  than  I  could 
swim;  the  icy  water  grackially  robbed  my  whole  body  of 
feeling,  and  it  became  more  and  more  difficult  to  use  my 
limbs.  At  length  I  reached  the  side  of  our  craft  ;  but  it 
was  only  by  summoning  up  my  last  energies  that  I  finally 
succeeded  in  getting  on  board,  and  we  were  saved. 

Two   days   later   my   kaiak    was   attacked   by  a   walrus. 
These  monsters  had  tried  several   times  to  jnit  an  end   to 
us  by  suddenly  coming  up  from  below,  and  attacking  the 
kaiak  with  a  violent  blow,  which  might  easily  have  upset 
us,  but   this   they   had   hitherto  not  succeeded    in  doing. 
This   time,  however,  the  attack  w^as  more  violent.      The 
walrus  suddenly  pushed   up  beside  my  kaiak,  and,  laying 
one   tiipper   on    its    edge,  tried    to   upset   it,  at  the   same 
time  driving  its  long  tusks  into  the   bottom,  fortunately, 
however,  without  touching  me.      I   managed   to  gi\e  the 
walrus  such   a  blow  on  the  head  with    the  jiaddle   that  it 
rose   high    up  out  of    the   water,  threatening   to  fall   upon 
me,  but  disappeared  the  next  moment  as  cjuicklv  as  it  had 
come.       The   water  was   rushing   into   the   kaiak    through 
the  long  rent  made   in   the  bottom   by  the  walrus,  and  I 
was  sinking  rapidly,  and  only  at  the  last  moment  managed 
to  run  my  kaiak  on   to  a   Hoe  that  was  projecting  under 
the  water,  and   escai)ed    in   safety  from  the  boat  on   to  the 
ice.     The  next  day  was  emi^jcned  in  repairing  the  kaiak, 
and  in  drying  clothes,  outfit,  photograj^hic  aj)paratus,  etc., 
which  were  all   soaked  with   sea-water,  though  fortunately 
no  real  harm  was  done. 

The  following  day,  when    we    were  about   to  continue 


:c)2  A\iyS£X  AV  27/£  FROZEN   WORLD 

our  journey,  and  as  I  was  just  preparing  breakfast  before 
startinj;,  I  went  up  on  to  a  hummock  to  reconnoitre  land- 
ward. As  I  stood  there,  puffs  of  wind  came  across  to 
me  from  the  land,  carrying  a  confused  noise  from  the 
thousands  of  loons  and  other  sea-birds  which  inhabited 
the  mountains  there.  As  I  was  listening  to  all  these  bird- 
voices,  I  suddenly  started  at  a  completely  different  sound, 
which  so  much  resembled  the  barking  of  a  dog  that  for 
a  moment  it  seemed  to  me  that  there  could  be  no  doubt 
of  its  being  this.  But  then  it  was  once  more  lost  in  the 
noise  of  the  birds,  and  I  thought  I  must  have  been  mis- 
taken. Again,  however,  the  wind  brought  over  a  fresh 
stream  of  sound,  which  left  no  doubt  whatever  of  there 
actually  being  dogs  in  the  neighborhood.  I  ran  down 
and  waked  Johansen  in  the  sleeping-bag  by  saying,  "  I 
have  heard  dogs  !  "  But  I  could  not  make  him  compre- 
hend, so  I  gulped  down  my  breakfast,  put  on  my  ski,  and 
dashed  off  across  the  ice.  As  I  approached  the  shore  I 
saw  a  man  coming  toward  me.  It  was  Mr.  Jackson,  and 
hearty  was  the  handshake  with  which  he  welcomed  me. 

[In  order  to  make  the  narrative  more  complete,  as  well 
as  to  mve  merited  recos^nition  to  one  of  the  leading:  recent 
enterprises  in  tlie  field  of  Arctic  research,  we  will  say  that 
the  gentleman  whom  Dr.  Nansen  so  opportunely  met  at 
this  critical  time  was  Mr.  F.  G.  Jackson,  leader  of  the 
Jackson-IIarmsworth  expedition  which  left  England  in 
1894.  Very  soon  after  the  meeting  of  these  explorers 
f»nc  of  the  members  of  the  Jackson  party  came  to  the 
Nansen  camp.  He  was  closely  followed  by  four  compan- 
ions. They  all  gave  Lieutenant  Johansen  a  cordial  greet- 
ing, and  then  escorted  him  to  the  headquarters  of  the 
exj)c(liti()ii. 


J  J//:    CKI-.AT  Sl.inCh     /   \ /'/■/>///()  V 


p  ^J^t3TiE.« 


MEETING    Ul     DK.  NANSli.N    AM)    MR.    JACKmjN     1.\     1  KA.NZ    JusKK    IJVND,  JL'NI':.  1S96 
{By  perm Ui ion  0/ Mr.  Alfred  C.  llarinnuorth,  of  tht  fackion-Harmswortk  ex/eiL'lioH) 


Before  origan i/iiiL;"  ihi^  cxijcdilion  Mr.  Jackson  had  seen 
a  tjood  deal  ot  Arctic  work,  and  had  won  (hstinction  bv 
making,  in  connection  witli  his  investii^ations,  a  sledge 
journey  of  four  thousand  miles.  Vny  a  long  time  he  had 
desired  to  e.\i)l()re  I'ranz  Josef  Land  and  the  area  to  the 
north  of   this  comijarati\el\"   unknown  region.      His  plans 


294  X.LVSJtX  /^'   TJIK   FROZEN  WOKJ.D 

were  carefully  laid,  and  they  seemed  so  practicable  that 
he  was  enabled,  under  the  most  favorable  conditions,  to 
make  an  effort  to  put  them  into  execution.  He  found  a 
munificent  patron  in  ]Mr.  Alfred  C.  Harmsworth,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  l\(>\al  Geographical  Society,  who  not  only  con- 
sented to  bear  the  whole  expense  of  the  expedition,  but 
also  o-a\-e  a  great  deal  of  time  and  personal  effort  in 
securing  as  complete  an  equipment  as  it  was  possible  to 
obtain. 

\  whaler  named  the  Wiiidwai'd,  an  exceedingly  strong 
?>hip  which  had  been  constructed  with  special  reference  to 
service  in  the  ice,  was  })urchased  and  transformed  into  a 
steam  yacht.  Several  boats  of  different  types  were  built, 
and  seventeen  sledges,  of  an  improved  pattern  designed 
by  Mr,  Jackson,  were  made.  Tents,  materials  ready  to  be 
put  together  for  houses,  and  a  large  supply  of  excellent 
scientific  instruments  also  formed  a  part  of  the  outfit. 
Vi)v  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Arctic  exploration  a 
few  loonies  were  taken  for  use  in  travelling  and  in  hauling 
loads.  These  were  obtained  at  Archangel,  and  thirty 
dogs  were  secured  from  Western  Siberia. 

The  Windward  sailed  from  Greenhithe  on  the  after- 
noon of  July  I  I,  left  Archangel  early  in  August,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  iM-anz  Josef  Land.  At  Cape  Flora,  Jackson, 
with  his  few  companions,  established  his  headquarters. 
The  settlement,  which  consisted  of  seven  huts,  was  named 
l''Jmwood.  The  Windward  returned  home,  and  was  on 
her  second  voyage  to  the  station  when  Nansen  and 
Johansen  became  the  guests  of  its  inmates. 

The  primary  object  of  this  expedition  was  to  make  a 
thorough  exjiloration  of  I^-anz  Josef  Land,  both  of  the 
coast  and  of  the  interior,  and  thus  determine  whether  it 


7 '//A    GR /:.  1 1  •  AY. /<:/) O'/i   KXrt:  niJ ION 


'■')S 


is  the  southern  poiiion  ol  ;i  L;i\';a  jjolar  njiiliiicnt  or  u 
collection  of  islands.  In  ihi^  work  Mr.  Jackson  has  been 
very  successful,  ha\inL;  discovered  many  islands,  and  an 
inii)()rtant  bod)'  of  water  which  he  has  named  (Jueen 
Victoria  Sea.  As  nearly  or  quite  all  that  is  required  in 
this  direction  has  been  pei-formed,  it  is  understood  that  in 
the  spring-  or  summer  of  the  |)resent  ^ear  (1.S97),  Mr. 
Jackson  will  take  up  the  secondary,  though  very  interest- 
ini;-  and  important  work  of  the  expedition,  and  either  u|)on 
the  open  water  or  the  frozen  surface  of  this  i^reat  .sea, 
according  to  its  condition  at  the  time,  commence  a  voyage 
or  a  journey  which  will  be  continued  as  far  as  j)ossible 
toward  the  Pole.] 


ClIAPTIiR    XVI 

IIOMKWAKD    HOUND 

W'l-;  were  received  liere  with  a  liospitality  and  hearti- 
ness such  as  those  Arctic  surroundings  can  seldom  lia\e 
witnessed;  and  though  we  had  fully  intended  to  go  on  our 
way  to  Spitzbergen,  which  would  probably  be  our  quick- 
est way  home,  we  could  not  tear  ourselves  away  from  this 
hospitable  spot,  again  renounce  all  the  ease  and  comfort 
wliich  were  here  offered  to  us,  and  once  more  take  our 
pilgrim's  staff  into  our  hand.  We  decided  to  accept  the 
kind  inxitation  to  wait  for  the  JVindwarci^,  which  was  soon 
to  arrive,  and  then  again  return  to  Europe. 

Never  shall  I  forget  how  delightful  it  was,  as  soon  as 
we  entered  Jackson's  comfortably  arranged  house,  to  have 
a  warm  bath.  It  was  not,  indeed,  possible  to  become 
clean  the  first  time,  but  still  it  imparted  a  feeling  of  clean- 
liness ;  and  then  delightfully  soft,  clean  woollen  garments 
to  follow,  to  be  shaved  and  have  one's  hair  cut,  have  a 
capital  dinner,  coffee,  cigars,  port  wine,  and,  last  but  not 
least,  books  and  the  latest  literature  (two  years  old,  indeed, 
but  new  to  us)  —  in  short,  we  felt  all  at  once  transported, 
as  if  bv  the  stroke  of  a  masfic  wand,  into  tlie  heart  of  civ- 
ilization.  The  attention,  the  consideration,  which  every 
member  of  this  expedition  offered  us  was  touching,  and 
made  an  indelible  impression  on  both  of  us.  It  seemed 
as  if  their  aim  was  to  soften  by  their  kindness  the  recol- 
lection of  last  winter's  loneliness  and  dreariness. 


no.MKW.lKI)    nOL  XI) 


K 


DR.    NANSKN,    AS     PHU  lUCKAI'IIKD     HY     MK.     J  ACKSuN      IMMKDIAIHY     AUKK      IIIHK 
MKETINi;    IN    KKANZ   JOSKK    LAND,    IN    JfNF.,    iS*/) 

{By  prrniiision  of  Mr.  Al/rrd  C  Hiirmnvorth,  oftlif  'y:t,ksein-Hiirmrti'<>rtk  rxf^iiitiirn.) 


W'c  now  discovcR'cl  that  my  suspicions,  as  indicated 
above,  were  correct.  Wf  were  actually  on  the  south  coast 
of  r'ranz  Josef  Land,  and  had  arrived  at  Cape  I'lora.  on 
Northbrook  Island.  Our  observations  and  determination 
of  longitude  were  fairly  correct,  in  spite  of  everythint^;. 
and  our  chronometers  proved  to  have  been  right.  On 
thr    other    hand,    there    were    mistakes    in    Payer's    map, 


298  A'.-i.yS£A'  JX  THE  FROZEN   WORLD 

which  had  put  me  on  the  wrong  track  — mistakes  of 
which  I  have  not  yet  found  an  explanation,  but  will  find, 
it  is  to  be  hoped,  on  conferring  more  closely  with   Payer 

himself. 

The  broad  sound  through  which  we  had  come  south 
this  spring  lav  just  a  little  west  of  Austria  Sound,  and 
was  considerably  larger  than  the  last-named  sound.  It 
had  already  been  traversed  by  Jackson,  and  called  by  him 
the  British  Channel. 

During  the  winter  we  had  been  encamped  just  to  the 
west  of  -Austria  Sound,  on  an  island  which  I  have  called 
Frederick  Jackson's  Island.  Before  we  set  out  on  our 
expedition,  I  stated,  in  my  lecture  before  the  Royal  Geo- 
grajjhical  Society,  my  opinion  that  Franz  Josef  Land  was 
only  a  group  of  islands.  This  opinion  has  now  been 
fully  confirmed,  l^'ranz  Josef  Land  is  not  only  a  group 
of  islands,  but  a  grouj)  of  little  islands  of  such  small 
extent  as  perhaps  no  one  had  thought  possible.  In  my 
o])inion  the  islands  forming  Franz  Josef  Land  may  be 
considered  as  a  continuation  of  East  Spitzbergen,  and  the 
most  important,  most  interesting  subject  yet  to  be  worked 
(tut  is  the  exploration  of  tlie  still  unknown  western  j)art 
of  Vx'wr/.  Josef  Land  and  its  connection  with  Spitzbergen. 
In  this  region  there  are  probably  many  new  islands  which 
it  is  to  be  hoped  Jackson  and  his  expedition  will  have  an 
opportunity  of  discovering  and  charting.  How  far  north 
the  islands  extend  it  i  .  not  yet  possible  to  determine,  but 
it  is  scarcely  likely  to  be  very  far. 

I  will  not  venture  an  opinion  as  to  whether  Petermann 
Land  has  any  existence  ;  our  course  was  so  easterly  that 
it  may  well  have  been  too  far  off  to  be  seen  ;  but  in  that 
case  it  must  be  an  island  of  inconsiderable  extent.     The 


J/O  MK  WW  kl)    /U)(\/)  299 

whole  ot  thcil  part  of  I'ran/  Josef  l,aiul  tr.iwrscd  by  lis 
consisted  of  basalt,  and  lias  onee  formed  a  coiUiiuioiis 
basaltic  land,  which  is  now,  however,  by  numerous  chan- 
nels antl  fjords,  cut  uj)  into  small  islands,  entirely  or  in 
great  measure  covered  with  glaciers,  and  where  only  here 
and  there  along  the  shore  the  dark  basaltic  rocks  arc 
visible.  .As  a  rule  the  land  does  not  rise  to  a  height  of 
2,000  feet  al)o\-e  the  sea,  and  only  occasionally  did  the  gla- 
ciers seem  to  a])])roach  to  a  height  of  3,000  feet.  (  )n  the 
south  side  of  the  country  there  is,  beneath  the  basalt,  a 
deep  stratum  of  cla\-  which  extends  to  a  height  of  fntm 
500  to  600  feet  above  the  sea,  and  which  belongs  to  the 
Jura  formation,  and  where  both  Dr.  Koetlitz,  of  the  [ack- 
son  expedition,  and  I  found  numerous  fossils  of  various 
kinds,  chiefly  Aninionites  and  Iielemnites,  which  lea\e  no 
doubt  as  to  its  age.  As  far  as  I  can  for  the  present  say.  a 
large  part  of  this  clay  belongs  to  the  so-called  Oxford  clay. 
Lignite  and  fossil  wood  were  also  common  in  these  clay  . 
strata.  In  a  few  places  numerous  fossil  plants  were  also 
found,  whose  age  I  have  not  yet  had  time  to  determine,  but 
which  probably  belong  to  a  later  formation  than  the  Jura. 
In  the  mean  time  the  days  at  Ca|)e  I'lora  |)assed  im|)er- 
ce})tibly.  We  spent  our  time  partly  in  making  scientific 
excursions  of  small  extent,  j^artly  in  reading,  writing,  and 
preparing  a  map  of  our  route  across  I^'ranz  Josef  Land 
as  it  aj)|)eared,  according  to  our  investigations,  to  be.  In- 
cessantly did  we  scan  the  horizon  in  expectation  of  the 
lVi7tii7i.'a)'(/,  the  ship  which  was  to  come  from  Lurope  ; 
but  a  great  (|uantity  of  ice  lay  in  the  sea  outside,  no 
sail  appeared  on  the  hori/on,  and  as  time  went  (»n  wo  be- 
came more  and  more  impatient,  and  more  and  more  often 
did   anxious  remarks  fall  on   the  possibility  of  the  ice  hin- 


300  X.IXS/':\  JX  THK  FROZEN  WORLD 

dcrin';  the  W'indicani  from  coming  in  this  year.  When 
a  month  had  jjassed.  Joliansen  and  I  began  to  repent  a 
little  that  we  had  stopped  here,  and  liad  not  gone  straight 
on  to  Sjiitzbergen,  where  we  should  i)robably  long  before 
thi>  ha\'e  found  a  ship  and  been  on  our  way  home.  I 
began  to  think,  indeed,  of  setting  off  again,  as  I  was  un- 
willing to  risk  passing  another  winter  in  the  Arctic  re- 
gions. I  was  tolerably  certain  that  the  Fram  would  come 
home  this  year,  and  would  then,  of  course,  throw  our 
friends  into  the  greatest  anxiety  with  regard  to  our  fate ; 
there  would  then  hardl\-  ha\e  been  any  hope  at  home  of 
ever  seeing  us  again. 

At  length,  when  six  weeks  had  passed,  I  was  suddenly 
aroused  one  night  by  Mr.  Jackson  with  the  news  that  the 
//V;/^/rt'^rrt(' had  arrived.  The  cheers  and  joyful  exclama- 
tions with  which  the  news  of  our  arrival  at  Cape  P^lora 
were  received  on  board  the  Windward  were  proofs  of  such 
great  and  sincere  delight  that  we  could  hardly  have  ex- 
pected greater  from  our  own  countrymen.  It  was  a  fresh 
demonstration  of  the  sympathy  which  exists  between  the 
Mnglish  and  Norwegian  nations. 

The  stores  brought  for  the  Jackson  expedition  were 
soon  unshipped  from  the  ]Vindward,  and  b)-  the  aid  of 
sledges  dragged  over  the  ice  to  land.  In  less  than  a  week 
all  was  ready;  and  as  soon  as  letters  and  telegrams  for 
home  were  written,  on  August  7,  we  went  on  board,  and 
the  Windiuard  weighed  anchor  to  make  for  home. 

( )n  board  the  shi|)  we  had  the  shortest  and  pleasantest 
homeward  journey  that  ])erha]DS  any  Arctic  expedition  has 
ever  had.  We  again  experienced  English  hospitality  to 
its  fullest  extent,  and  those  days  can  certainly  never  be 
forgotten  by  either  Johansen  or  myself. 


//().]//■:  ir. I  A' J)  /u)c\/)  30, 

Thcic  was  a  L;rcaL  tlcal  ot  ice  in  the  sea  between  l*"ran/. 
Josef  Land  and  Nova  Zenibla,  and  it  would  certainly 
have  been  onl}-  too  easy  to  run  the  little  IVtHthuard  so 
lar  into  the  closel\-  packed  ice  that  it  would  have  taken 
weeks  and  months  to  get  out  again.  Hut  with  his  great 
experience  and  his  clear-sightedness  in  all  that  concerned 
ice  and  ice  naxigation,  Caj:)tain  Brown,  the  old  whaler 
under  whose  command  the  Windward  now  was,  knew 
how  to  find  just  the  only  wa\-  that  would  hv.  certain  to 
take  us  through  220  miles  of  ice  out  into  the  o])en  sea  to 
the  north  of  Nova  Zembia,  and  thence  shape  a  straight 
course  for  Vardo,  where  we  arrived  on  August  13,  six 
days  after  having  left  Cape  Mora. 

Thus  I  and  one  man  of  my  expedition  had  now  come 
to  our  native  land,  where  we  were  received  with  open 
arms.  Our  first  question  after  setting  foot  on  Norwegian 
soil  was  whether  anything  had  been  heard  of  the  Fratn 
and  our  comrades.  Our  fear  the  whole  winter  and  sj^ring 
had  been  that  the  Frain  would  reach  home  before  us. 
I'o  our  relief,  however,  we  now  learned  that  nothing  had 
been  heard  of  the  I'^ram,  and  our  friends  had  been  saved 
from  unnecessary  anxiety.  I  telegrai)hed  immediately  to 
the  King  of  Norway  and  the  Norwegian  (lovernment  that 
all  was  well  on  board  the  Fram  when  we  left  her,  and  that 
1  fully  expected  her  and  the  remaining  members  of  the 
expedition  home  again  safe  and  sound  in  a  short  time. 

(jreat,  then,  was  the  jov  when,  in  Hammei-fest,  on  Au- 
gust 21,  1  received  a  telegram  from  Skjarvo.  a  little  port 
not  far  oft.  to  say  that  the  I' rant  had  arrived  in  the  night, 
all  well  on  board. 


CHAPTER    XVII 

now    TIIF.    "  KRAM  "    FAKED SVERDRUp's    STORY 

When  I  left  ihc  Frani,  I  j^avc  instructions  to  Sverdrup. 
Among  other  things  they  ran  thus:  '' Tlie  chief  aim  of  the 
expedition  is  to  push  through  the  unknown  Polar  Sea, 
from  tlie  district  around  New  Siberia  north  of  P"ranz 
Josef  Land,  out  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  near  Spitzbergen 
or  Greenland.  The  principal  part  of  this  task  I  consider 
we  have  already  accomplished;  the  rest  will  be  accom- 
jjlished  little  by  little  as  the  expedition  goes  farther  west. 
In  order  to  make  the  expedition  yet  more  productive,  I 
will  make  an  attempt  to  push  on  farther  to  the  north  with 
dogs.  Your  duty  will  then  be  to  bring  the  lives  hereby 
entrusted  to  you  home  by  the  safest  way,  and  not  to  ex- 
l)ose  them  to  needless  danger,  either  out  of  regard  to  the 
ship,  cargo,  or  results  of  the  expedition. 

"  How  long  it  may  be  before  the  Fram  drifts  out  into 
open  water  no  one  can  tell.  You  have  provisions  for 
several  years  ;  but  should  it,  for  some  unknown  reason, 
take  too  long,  or  should  the  crew  begin  to  suffer  in  health, 
or  you  for  any  other  reason  consider  it  best  to  abandon 
the  vessel,  this  should  uncpiestionably  be  done.  At  what 
time  it  should  take  place,  as  also  the  way  that  ought  to 
be  chosen,  you  yourself  will  be  best  able  to  judge.  Should 
it  be  necessary,  I  consider  P"ranz  Josef  Land  and  Spitz- 
bergen to  be  the  best  lands  to  make  for.  If  search  is 
made  for  the  expedition  after  Johansen's  ancl  my  arrival 


CAIIAIN    oriU    Nl-.l  MANN    SVKRHKIM' 


304  X.l.VS/:X  IN  THE   FROZEX    WORLD 

home,  it  will  first  be  made  there.  When  you  come  to 
land  you  should  as  often  as  possible  erect  conspicuous 
cairns  on  promontories  and  projecting  headlands,  and 
within  each  cairn  j^lace  a  short  statement  of  what  has 
been  done,  and  whither  you  are  going.  In  order  to  make 
these  cairns  distinguishable  from  others,  a  very  small 
cairn  should  be  erected  four  metres  from  the  large  one 
in  a  northward  direction  by  tlic  magnet.  What  outfit 
will  be  the  best  in  case  of  the  abandoning  of  the  Fram  is 
a  question  we  have  so  often  discussed  that  I  consider  it 
superfluous  to  dwell  on  it  here.  I  know  that  3'ou  will 
take  care  that  the  needful  number  of  kaiaks  for  all  the 
men,  sledges,  ski,  snow-shoes,  and  other  articles  of  outfit, 
are  put  in  order  as  soon  as  possible,  and  ke])t  in  readi- 
ness, so  that  such  a  journey  ox'cr  the  ice  could  be  under- 
taken with  the  greatest  possible  ease.  Information  as  to 
the  jjrovisions  I  consider  mc^st  suitable  for  a  journey  of 
this  kind,  and  the  quantity  necessary  for  each  man,  I  give 
elsewhere. 

"I  know,  too,  that  you  will  hold  everything  in  readi- 
ness to  abandon  the  Fram  in  the  shortest  possible  time 
in  the  event  of  a  sudden  misfortune  befalling  her  in  the 
shajje  of  fire  or  pressure.  If  the  ice  permits,  I  consider 
it  advisable  th.it  there  should  always  be  a  depot,  with 
sufficient  provisions,  etc.,  upon  a  safe  place  on  the  ice, 
such  as  we  have  lately  had.  All  necessary  things  which 
cannot  be  ui)()n  the  ice  ought  to  be  so  placed  on  board 
that  thev  are  easv  to  Lj-et  at  under  anv  circumstances.  As 
you  know,  there  are  only  concentrated  sledge  provisions 
now  in  the  depot;  but  as  it  is  not  impossible  that  the  ex- 
pedition might  have  to  remain  quiet  for  some  time  before 
setting  off,  it  would  be  extremely  desirable  to  save  as  much 


IfOJV   THE     'TRAM''    FAKED  305 

tinned  meat,  fish,  and  vegetables  as  possible.  Should  dis- 
turbed times  eome,  1  would  even  consider  it  adxisable  to 
have  a  supply  of  these  articles  also  ready  on  the  ice. 

"  vShould  the  /-yam  in  driitinL;-  bear  far  to  the  north  of 
Spitzberoen  and  t;et  iiito  the  current  undei-  the  east  coast 
of  Greenland,  many  ]:)Ossibilities  could  be  imagined,  which 
now  it  is  not  easy  to  form  any  opinion  about  ;  but  should 
\()U  be  obliged  to  abandon  the  Fram,  and  make  for  the 
land,  it  would  be  best  for  you  to  erect  cairns,  as  mentioned 
above,  there  too,  as  search  might  possibly  be  made  for  the 
expedition  there.  In  tliat  case,  whether  you  ought  to 
make  for  Iceland  (which  is  the  nearest  land,  and  whither 
)-ou  would  be  able  to  go  in  tlie  s]:)ring  by  following  the 
edge  of  the  ice)  or  for  the  Danish  colonies  west  of  Cajjc 
Farewell,  you  will  be  better  able  to  judge  when  you  sec 
the  circumstances. 

"  The  tilings  that  ought  to  be  taken  with  \-ou,  if  the 
Fram  be  abandoned,  after  the  necessary  provisions,  are 
weapons,  ammunition,  and  outfit,  all  scientific  and  other 
journals,  observations,  all  scientific  collections  that  are  not 
too  hea\'y  (in  the  latter  case  small  sanijjles  of  them),  jjho- 
tographs,  the  original  plates  by  ]3reference.  or  if  they  are 
too  liea\\-,  then  copies  of  them  —  the  areometer,  w  ith 
which  most  of  the  observations  on  the  specific  gravity 
of  sea-water  are  made,  besides,  of  course,  all  journals  and 
memoranda  which  are  of  any  interest.  I  leave  behind 
two  or  three  journals  and  letters  which  I  will  recjue^t 
you  to  take  especial  care  of,  and  deliver  to  my  wife,  if 
I  should  not  come  home,  or  you,  contrary  to  expectation, 
should  get  hf)me  before  us. 

"  Hansen  and  Blessing  will,  as  you  know,  take  charge 
of  the  various  scientific  observations  and  collections;  you 

zo 


3o6  NAiXSE.V  AY  THE   FKOZKX  WORLD 

yourself  will  see  to  the  soundings,  and  that  they  are  taken 
as  often  as  opportunity  permits.  As  the  crew  was  small 
before,  and  will  now  be  still  further  reduced  by  two  men, 
some  work  may  fall  to  each  man's  lot ;  but  I  know  that  as 
far  as  possible  you  will  spare  men  to  assist  in  the  scientific 
observations,  and  make  these  as  complete  as  possible.  .  .  . 

"  In  conclusion,  I  wish  all  possible  success  to  you,  and 
those  for  whom  you  are  now  responsible  ;  and  may  we 
meet  again  in  Norway,  whether  it  be  on  board  this  vessel 
or  without  her." 

The  requests  I  liad  here  set  down  Sverdrup  made  it  a 
matter  of  conscience  to  comply  with,  and  the  summer 
after  Johansen  and  I  had  left  the  Fram  was  employed, 
not  onl\'  in  the  work  necessary  for  the  safety  of  the  vessel, 
but  in  making  the  outfit  required  for  a  sledge  journey 
over  the  ice  as  perfect  and  complete  as  could  well  be. 
And  never,  perhaps,  has  an  expedition  been  better  pre- 
l^ared  for  leaving  their  vessel  than  this,  although  the  prob- 
abilities were  that  the  necessity  for  so  doing  would  not 
occur.  Light  canvas  kaiaks,  each  to  hold  two  men,  had 
already  been  partly  completed  on  board  before  I  left,  and 
sledges,  ski,  snow-shoes,  cooking  apparatus,  dog  harness, 
etc.,  were  all  tested  and  put  in  good  order,  and,  as  will  be 
seen  fnjm  the  orders  given,  provisions  were  kept  in  readi- 
ness. Before  we  left  the  ship  some  time  had  been  spent 
in  carting  away  the  piled-up  masses  of  ice  w^hich  had  been 
forced  against  the  Fravis  sides  during  the  pressure  of 
January,  1S95,  and  the  removal  of  this  ice  was  continued 
after  we  left. 

At  the  end  of  March,  just  as  the  last  of  this  mass  had 
been  removed,  the  ice  cracked  in  all  directions  around  the 
ship,  and  a  broad  crack  was  formed  which  passed  at  the 


J/0  IV   77//;    -J'/xJM"    FARJID  .307 

distance  of  a  few  feet  from  the  stern  of  the  vessel.  Siil)- 
sequcntly  in  this  crack  there  was  great  pressure,  and  the 
ice  quite  split  up,  so  that  the  greater  part  of  the  Fram  lay 
in  open  water  l)y  the  end  of  July.  The  stern,  however, 
was  still  frozen  fast  in  a  great  block  of  ice.  An  attein|)l 
was  made  to  break  this  up  by  blasting,  which  seemed,  how- 
ever, at  the  time,  to  have  had  very  little  effect,  only  a  small 
crack  in  the  ice  appearing;  and  Sverdrup  was  standing  on 
the  ice  talking  with  some  of  his  companions  as  to  what 
more  should  be  done  to  get  the  vessel  afloat,  when  they 
suddenly  noticed  that  she  was  slowly  beginning  to  move, 
and  before  they  were  aware  of  it  the  vessel  glided  from 
her  icy  slip  into  the  water  with  a  deafening  noise,  while 
the  spray  was  thrown  from  her  bows  in  ever)-  direction. 
It  was  like  the  launching  of  a  ship,  and  her  return  to  open 
water  was  welcomed  by  the  crew  with  ringing  cheers. 
That  year,  however,  the  Frams  freedom  did  not  last  long. 
By  warping  and  sawing  she  was  again  brought  into  a  safe 
haven,  and  in  August  was  again  frozen  fast. 

At  first,  after  we  had  left  the  ship,  the  drift  was  not  of 
much  imj)ortance  ;  but  toward  tlie  end  of  April  it  beiMme 
somewhat  stronger  in  a  westerly  direction.  On  Jul)-  jj, 
1S95,  the  Fram  was  in  84°  50'  N.  lat.,  73'  \l.  long.  .At 
this  time  there  seemed  to  be  a  great  deal  of  movement  in 
the  ice,  and  strong  pressure  on  all  sides  in  the  vicinity. 
After  this  southwesterly  and  westerlv  winds  set  in.  which 
during  the  latter  j)art  of  the  summer  stopped  the  /-'nnifs 
dilfting,  and  e\en  drove  her  back  in  an  easterly  and 
nothcrly  direction.  Not  until  October  did  she  again  bear 
to  the  west,  and  during  the  remainder  of  the  autumn  and 
the  winter  the  drift  was  better  than  ever.  On  October 
16,  1895,  the  Fram  was  in  her  highest  observed  latitude. 


3o8  A\LyS£X  /y  THE  FROZEN   WORLD 

viz.,  85^  57'  X.  lat.  and  66  1:^.  long.  Some  days  later  she 
was  still  farther  north,  but  on  those  days  it  was  cloudy,  so 
that  no  observations  could  be  taken.  By  the  middle  of 
Februarv,  1896,  the  Fraiu  had  come  in  a  southwesterly 
direction  to  84'  20'  N.  lat.  and  24'  E.  long.  But  here, 
quite  unexpectedly,  long-continued  south  winds  stopped 
the  drift  until  May,  when  it  again  began  to  go  south,  until 
on  July  19  they  were  in  ^^  14  N.  lat.  and  14  E.  long., 
where  the  work  of  getting  the  Fram  out  of  the  ice  began. 
Had  she  not  got  loose  here,  but  had  been  obliged  to  con- 
tinue drifting,  she  would  of  course  have  come  south  with 
the  polar  ice  along  the  east  coast  of  Greenland,  toward 
which  the  direction  of  her  drift  pointed  directly ;  and 
had  she  not  fjot  loose  before,  she  would  have  been  driven 
south  right  to  Cape  Farewell,  a  drift  which  has  already 
been  accomplished  several  times,  and  which  would,  there- 
fore, not  have  been  so  well  worth  repeating. 

Throughout  her  drift  througli  the  unknown  Polar  Sea 
from  New  Siberia  to  the  north  of  Spitzbergcn,  the  Fram 
was  constantly  exposed  to  pressure,  none,  however,  being 
so  serious  as  that,  already  described,  in  January,  1895. 
During  this  last  summer,  especially  now  in  June,  1896,  the 
pressure  was  ])articulaHy  great,  and  of  a  ])eculiar  nature. 
The  I'^ram  at  that  time  lay  in  a  channel,  which,  A\ith 
the  changing  tidal  current,  alternately  opened  and  closed 
twice  during  the  twenty-four  hours.  Throughout  one 
week  in  June,  at  the  spring  tides,  the  pressure  in  this 
channel  was  extremely  hard,  and  the  Fram  was  regularly 
lifted  up  once  or  twice  a  day,  so  high  that  her  bottom 
could  often  be  seen  above  the  ice.  But  Inroad  and  safe 
as  she  is,  she  rose  quietly,  without  letting  a  sound  be 
heard  within,  either  in   timber  or  woodwork.     No  one  on 


J/Oir    Tin,    -J- A' AM"    J'.IKJU)  3.,,-, 

board  was  awakened  by  the  i)rcssurc,  even  when  al  its 
height;  while  it  often  ha])i)ened  that  Sverdrup  himself, 
who  is  a  very  light  sleeper,  awoke  in  the  morning  with- 
out an  idea  of  what  had  taken  i)lace  in  the  night.  Only 
when  he  canie  on  deck  and  looked  over  the  bulwarks  did 
he  observe  how  high  the  vessel  was  raised  above  the 
sui-face  of  the  ice. 

This  quiet  raising  was  of  course  due  to  the  well- 
adapted  lines  on  which  the  J^^ravi  was  built.  This,  too. 
is  the  reason  why,  even  when  raised  highest,  she  did  not 
heel  over  to  any  great  extent;  as  a  rule  she  lay  almost 
horizontal.  Sometimes  she  heeled  over  a  few  degrees, 
but  the  greatest  heeHng  over  that  the  Fram  did  in  the  ice 
amounted  to  8°. 

I  have  already  mentioned  the  tenij^eratures  of  the  first 
winter.  I  will  only  add  here  that  the  two  subsec|uent 
winters  on  board  the  /')7?;;/  were  not  colder  than  that 
one.  It  is  well  known  that  the  districts  south  of  the  delta 
of  the  Lena  in  Siberia  form  one  of  the  poles  of  maximum 
cold  of  the  northern  hemisphere.  It  was  therefore  not  to 
be  expected  that  the  winters  in  the  northern  jjarl  of  the 
unknown  Polar  Sea,  which  we  were  going  to  e.\|)lore, 
would  be  found  colder  than  those  to  the  north  of  the 
Siberian  coast.  This,  too,  proved  to  be  the  case.  Of 
course,  the  tenij^eratures  in  all  three  winters  were  rather 
low  on  lioard  the  Fram,  while  we  two  who  were  on  I*' ran/. 
Josef  Land  had  a  considerably  milder  winter;  but  as  a 
set-off  we  had  the  more  \iolent  storms,  from  which  the 
interior  of  the  polar  basin  is  to  a  great  extent  exempt. 
The  summers  in  the  polar  basin  were  also  rather  cool, 
the  temj)erature  generallv  remaining  at  about  freezing 
j)oint,  and   only  occasionally  rising  a  few  degrees  above  it. 


3IO  jV.^XS/iX  IX  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

The  highest  temperature  observed  during  the  journe}^ 
was,  as  far  as  I  remember,  7°  or  8°  (Fahrenheit)  above 
freezing.  The  fall  of  moisture  in  the  inner  regions  of  the 
polar  basin  was  \'ery  small,  as  the  cold  air  carries  very 
little  nu)i.>ture  with  it.  All  the  winter  and  spring,  there- 
fore, we  had,  as  a  rule,  unusually  settled,  clear  weather; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  summer 
no  small  amount  of  fog  might  often  be  seen  lying  low 
down  on  the  surface  of  the  ice.  Rain  was,  of  course,  a 
great  rarit)'.  , 

During  the  whole  voyage  the  Aurora  Borealis  was  of 
exceedingly  ct)mmon  occurrence,  and  scarcely  a  day  passed 
in  which  it  was  not  observed,  provided  the  sky  allowed  at 
all  of  its  being  seen.  We  thus  had  exceptional  opportu- 
nities of  studying  this  wonderful  natural  phenomenon, 
which  often  rose  to  a  grand  intensity,  setting  the  entire 
sky  in  flames.  Northern  lights  of  various  colors  were 
\-er)'  frequent,  and  at  times  the  colors  were  surprisingly 
intense.  On  the  other  hand,  no  sound  was  ever  heard 
from  them,  nor  did  we  ever  see  them  quite  low. 

Atmospherical  electricity  was  also  a  subject  of  investi- 
gation, and  sometimes  the  electricity  was  fairly  strong. 
'I  he  result  of  these  investigations,  however,  cannot  be 
discussed  until  later.  During  the  whole  journey,  samples 
of  the  air  were  taken  in  glass  tubes,  and  will  be  analyzed 
at  h(jme. 

The  depth  we  had  found  during  the  earlier  part  of  our 
drift  continued  after  I  had  left  the  Fram,  and  the  lead 
showed  between  i,<Sooand  1,900  fathoms,  until  the  water 
began  to  grow  shallow,  as  the  Fram  worked  her  way  south 
toward  Spitzbergen.  The  water  temperatures,  too,  con- 
tinued almost  unchanged  ;    but  the  laver  of  warm  water 


//ow  ■ju/-:  ••/•/,'./ 1/ •'  I  ih'i.n  3,, 

below  the  cold,  livshcr  water,  which  1  h.ue  ah-cady  mcMi- 
tioncd,  became  somewhat  deei)er  toward  the  west,  the 
nearer  they  came  to  the  North  /Xtlantic  Ocean  between 
S]jit/berL;en  and  (ireenland. 

I  have  already  said  that  the  health  on  board  was  unus- 
ually good,  and  so  it  continued  to  bi'  the  last  year  also. 
1  he  only  cases  of  illness  were  oik-  or  two  slight  attacks  of 
gastric  catarrh,  a  short  attack  of  rheumatism,  and  two  or 
three  other  trilles.  There  was  no  sign  of  scurvy  durin*'" 
the  wliole  journey,  and  in  in\-  opinion  this  disease  cannot 
appear  if  sufilicient  attention  and  care  are  given  to  the 
l)rovision  department  in  fitting  out  an  e.\j)edition  ;  and  it 
is  therefore  a  disease  which  ought  to  be  forever  bani.shed 
from  Arctic  expeditions,  —  this  disease  which  has  hitherto 
been  the  one  to  claim  the  greatest  number  of  victims 
offered  to  polar  exjilorations. 

\\  hen  in  June  and  July  of  this  summer  the  expedition 
began  to  see  some  ]5rospect  of  being  able  to  force  its  way 
south  with  the  Fraui.  much  labor  was  spent  in  trettinir 
hei-  out  of  the  ice,  a  task  which  was  not  eas\-  in  the  great 
l)acked  masses.  The  onl\'  way  was  to  tr\-  to  blow  uj) 
these  pieces  of  ice  by  blasting,  in  which  ))rocess  both  gun- 
cotton  and  ordinary  gunpowder  were  employed.  The 
former  of  these  jjroved  to  be  the  most  effectual ;  but 
heavy  charges  of  gunjDowder  might  also,  if  judiciously 
l)laced,  have  had  a  capjital  elTcct, 

I)nring  these  blasting  exj)erimcnts  an  accident  hap- 
l>ened  which  might  easily  have  had  the  most  serious 
consecpiences.  Sverdruji,  with  one  man  as  hclj)er,  had 
just  laid  a  train  in  a  crack  in  the  ice.  and  set  light  to  the 
fusr,  u  hen  suddenly  the  j)iece  on  which  they  stcxxl  gave 
wa\-,  and  thev  fell  into  the  water  with  the  charije,  and    the 


3,2  A.-i\S£.V  IX  THE  FROZEN   WORLD 

burning  fuse  close  to  thcni.  The  situation  was  anything 
but  agreeable,  and  they  made  the  most  desperate  exertions 
to  cret  on  to  the  ice  again,  and  out  of  reach  of  the  charge 
before  it  exploded  ;  but  the  edge  of  the  ice  was  high,  and 
it  was  only  after  two  or  three  unsuccessful  attempts  that 
they  succeeded  in  getting  to  a  place  of  safety.  The 
charge  exploded  soon  after. 

After  several  days  of  exhausting  labor  at  this  ice-blast- 
ing they  at  last  succeeded  in  setting  the  Frafu  free,  and 
on  July  19  the  work  of  forcing  her  southward  through 
the  closely  packed  ice  began  in  earnest.  The  ice  here  was 
tremendous  throughout,  the  fioes  sometimes  being  so 
large  that  the  end  of  them  could  not  be  seen  even  with  a 
glass.  No  open  water  was  visible,  and  the  situation  often 
looked  hopeless.  Hut  it  is  a  capital  thing  not  to  have  any 
way  of  retreat ;  in  other  words,  to  have  no  choice  but  to 
go  on.  So  on  they  went,  and  they  had  a  capital  vessel, 
by  whose  means  the  impossible  became  possible.  By 
steaming  and  warping  they  forced  their  way,  bit  by  bit, 
through  ice  which  would  have  made  most  men  give  them- 
selves up  to  despair;  and  when  it  was  too  bad  for  this,  a 
way  was  made  by  blasting.  P""or  al^out  a  month  they 
kept  on  with  this  work,  and  during  that  time  broke  their 
way  through  1 50  geographical  miles  of  ice  —  ice  perhaps 
vaster  than  any  other  vessel  has  ever  yet  ventured  upon  ; 
and  on  August  13,  the  very  day  on  which  Johansen  and  I 
arrived  at  V'^ardo,  they  got  out  of  the  ice  into  open  water. 

At  the  time  of  their  coming  out  of  the  ice  there  was  a 
fog,  which,  however,  soon  lifted,  and  close  by  was  seen 
a  small  vessel,  the  Sisters  (Sostrenc),  a  schooner  from 
Tromso,  which  greeted  the  Fi-am  with  hearty  cheers. 
Captain    Hc)ltolfsen   coming  on  Ijoard.     The  first  question 


//Oir    JlJE   -J'A'.IM"    JAN  1:1)  3, 


l)ut  to  him  was  whether  X;iii.sL-n  and  Jolianscn  had  ar- 
rived in  Norway.  The  negative  answer  to  tliis  acted  like 
an  uncomfortaljle  danijier  on  the  joy  they  had  exjKTJcnced 
in  L;etlinL;  out  of  the  ice,  and  few  on  board  the  Fram  had 
any  hope  now  of  ever  seeing  us  again.  Suj^posing,  how- 
ever, that  people  on  Spitzbergen  might  be  better  informed, 
they  went  there  to  meet  .Andree,  who  was  sui)|)osed  to 
be  at  that  place.  There,  liowexer.  the  intelligence  was  no 
more  reassuring,  and  their  fears  for  us  —  their  two  lom- 
rades  —  grew  more  and  more  serious.  Captain  Sverdrup 
was  perhajis  the  only  man  on  board  who  still  believed 
that  we  were  alive ;  he  thought  that  we  had  arrived  at 
r^-anz  Josef  Land  so  late  last  autumn  that  we  had  been 
obliged  to  winter  tliere  with  Jackson's  exjjedition,  and  all 
on  l^oard  were  agreed  to  go  at  once  to  I'ranz  Jo.sef  Land 
to  look  for  us.  The  I^Vavi  was  indeed  fully  ecjuipjK'd 
for  starting  on  a  new  joolar  exj^edition,  should  it  be  neces- 
sar\-.  To  make  quite  certain,  however,  it  was  decided  to 
go  home  to  Norway  to  see  if  there  might  be  any  later 
intelligence  of  us  there. 

It  was  during  the  night  of  August  20  that  the  I-'ram 
cast  anchor  in  'the  little  haven  of  Skjiirvo,  in  I'inmark. 
Sverdrup  immediately  rowed  ashore  to  desj)atch  .some  tele- 
grams. .After  he  had  hammered  for  some  time  in  vain 
u])on  the  xarious  doors  of  the  telegra|)h  office,  a  licad  wa.s 
put  out  of  a  window,  ajid  an  angrv  voice  called  out  :  — 

"  It's  too  bad  that  one  can't  vw^w  be  allowed  a  quiet 
night's  rest!      What  do  you  want,  and  who  are  you?" 

'*  My  name  is  Sverdruj),  and  I  am  caj^tain  of  the  /-Vv;///, " 
came  the  cpiiet  answer. 

At  thi'^  the  tone  of  voice  in  the  window  immediately 
changed.     "  I   11   come  directlv, "  it  shouted,  and   the  win- 


3 '4 


NANSEN  JN  THE   FROZEN   WORLD 


,iii^i.->riA.MA  Ai  II. K  ni.R  Ki.rrk.N 


(low  was  closed  again.  Sverdrup  went  around  tlie  house 
to  the  entrance,  and  there,  to  his  surprise,  found  the 
person  whom  he  had  seen  at  the  window  in  the  simplest 
deshabiUe  standing  fully  dressed  before  him.  No  human 
being  had  ever  dressed  more  quickl}',  he  thought ;  and  his 
astonishment  was  not  lessened  by  the  first  words  that  the 
head  of  the  telegraph  office  said  to  him,  "  Nansen  and 
Johansen  have  come  back." 

Sverdrup  hardly  gave  himself  time  to  answer,  but 
rushed  down  the  island  to  the  shore  to  shout  out  the 
glad  news  to  his  comrades,  who  fell  on  one  another's 
necks  in  mad  delight.  The  news  was  immediately  sent 
out  over  the  water  to  the  Fram,  which  soon  after  greeted 
it  with  a  salute  of  two  guns,  which  echoed  far  out  into  the 
still  summer  night,  proclaiming  the  return  of  the  Norwe- 
gian polar  expedition  to  its  native  land.  (Nansen  and 
Johansen  met  the  Fram  in  Tromsb  harbor.) 


RECEPTION    AM)    FESTIVITIES    AT   CHRISriAM  \ 

Tlic  reception  wliitli  look  place  al  C"hri>tiaiiia  on  Sep- 
tember 9  was  St)  l)rilliai)t  that  no  sovereign  could  be 
welcomed  more  ro\allv. 

As  soon  as  the  ti(HnL;s  of  Nansen's  and  the  J-'ranis 
return  were  flashed  o\ei-  the  woild.  committees  were 
formed  to  arrani^e  L;reat  festivities,  and  they  worked  with 
unremitting  zeal  to  have  e\erythin<;  ready  at  the  jjroper 
time.  The  notice  was  rather  shoit,  hut  it  a|)])eared  to  be 
long  enough,  as  everybody  was  anxicuis  to  assist,  and  a 
lumdred  willing  hands  were  ready  where  there  was  room 
and  use  for  onlv  two. 

On  Wednesday,  Sej-jtember  9,  the  capital  of  Norway 
was  in  its  best  attire.  There  were  tlags  everywhere  along 
the  route  of  the  procession,  and  festoons  of  evergreens, 
and  shields  with  the  names  of  the  explorers  in  silver  on  a 
blue  ground  ;  but  the  most  original  sj)ectacle  was  an  im- 
mense triumphal  arch,  occujiied  by  several  lumdred  young 
people  dressed  in  white. 

.Ml  business  was  suspended,  stores  and  offices  closed 
at  noon,  and  crowds  of  ]3eoi)le  thronged  the  streets  from 
early  morning. 

The  festivities  commenced  on  Christiania  I-'jord,  A 
fleet  of  about. a  hundred  gayly  decorated  steamers,  large 
and  small,  sailed  out  in  the  morning  to  meet  the  J-'rani 
and  escort  the  good  shi|)  to  the  (  it\.  While  this  grand 
demonstration  was  taking  place  on  the  sea,  everv  locality 
in  and  around  the  city  from  which  one  could  get  a  \  iew 
was  filled  with  j^eople. 

When    the   large  fleet  of   steamers  met  the  Fnifft  and 


3i6  NANSEN  AV  7'HE  FROZEN  WORLD 

her  escort  of  eight  men-of-war,  a  tremendous  cheer  rang 
out,  and  the  Fram  steamed  into  port  amidst  the  salutes 
from  the  ships  and  the  guns  on  land.  She  looked  quite 
insignificant  with  her  sombre  and  ice-battered  luill  in 
these  gay  surroundings. 

The  guns  of  the  fortress  then  gave  the  signal  that  the 
lleet  had  arri\ed,  and  a  boat  rowed  by  quite  young  sailor 
boys  took  Nansen  and  his  men  from  the  Fram,  while  the 
multitude  cheered  and  waved  their  handkerchiefs  on  see- 
ing the  hero  of  the  day,  who  was  dressed  in  his  celebrated 
blue  jacket.  At  the  pavilion,  on  the  pier,  a  large  chorus 
of  men  sang  with  great  effect,  at  this  inspiring  moment, 
the  well-known  hymn,  "  A  Mighty  Fortress  is  our  God." 

While  everybody  present  joined  in  singing  the  national 
hymn,  Nansen  and  his  comrades  walked  from  the  boat  to 
the  tent,  where  the  indescribably  joyful  meeting  wdth  their 
families  and  most  intimate  friends  took  place.  Then 
followed  the  official  reception,  at  which  Mr.  Sunde,  the 
president  of  the  Christiania  City  Council,  made  the  speech 
of  welcome.  After  deafening  cheers  Nansen  responded 
in  a  loud,  sonorous  voice  :  — 

"  Countrymen  :  it  is  a  difficult  task  to  express  the  feel- 
ings that  animate  my  comrades  and  myself.  \W^11  I 
remember  the  day  we  left  home.  The  fjord  lay  before 
us  heavy  with  rain ;  it  was  hard  to  say  Good-by,  and 
great  was  the  responsibility;  we  felt  that  Norway's  best 
wishes  were  with  us ;  we  realized  tliat  if  we  flinched  the 
country  would  be  disappointed.  Hut  I  was  certain  that 
my  men  would  do  their  duty  even  to  the  shedding  of  the 
last  dro]3  of  blood.  I  can  say  that  no  one  ever  went  to 
the  North  with  nobler  men  than  I  did.  I  thank  you, 
from   the  bottom  of  my  heart,  for  your  greeting  of  wel- 


3i8  MLyS/':X  JX  THE  FROZEX  WORLD 

cumc,  —  a  L;R'ctini;-  that  hardly  any  othL-r  ^NOl■\vcgian  c\er 
received.  Thanks  to  Christiania.  \\"c  only  did  our 
duty,  therefore  the  welcome  is  doubly  dear  to  us.  Lone; 
life  to  our  capital  city  !  May  it  often  send  out  men  like 
those  it  sent  with  me !  " 

-After  the  reception  was  ended  the  explorers  were  taken 
into  carriages, —  Xansen  and  Captain  Sverdrup  in  tlie 
llrst,  —  leading  the  procession  as  it  moved  up  through 
the  city. 

They  recei\ed  unceasing  ovations,  and  on  passing  un- 
der the  triumphal  arch,  with  its  living  decorations,  flowcr.s 
were  thrown  to  the  heroes.  The  professors  and  students 
awaited  them  at  the  university,  and  on  their  arrival  the 
rector.  Professor  Schiotz,  on  behalf  of  science,  welcomed 
Xansen  and  crowned  "  The  Heroes  from  the  Desolate 
Ice  Fields  "  with  laurel. 

The  goal  of  the  procession  was  the  royal  castle,  into 
which  Xansen  and  his  men  passed  while  interminable 
masses  of  people  collected  outside,  and  called  for  him  so 
persistently  that  he  had  to  appear,  time  after  time,  on  the 
balcony  to  bow  his  acknowledgments.  At  the  state  din- 
ner that  followed  and  to  which  about  one  hundred  people 
were  invited,  Xansen  wore  the  Grand  Cross  of  the  Order 
of  St.  Olaf,  with,  which  King  Oscar  had  honored  him  at 
the  reception  at  the  castle.  Sverdrup  wore  the  cross  of  a 
commander,  and  the  scientific  members  of  the  expedition 
the  cross  of  knights,  and  the  other  members,  the  new 
Fram  medal  of  silver.  The  only  speech  that  was  made 
was  that  of  the  King,  who  said :  — 

"  1  his  is  a  notable  day  indeed.  Xansen  is  now,  as  a 
discoverer,  the  victorious  pioneer  of  an  important  work  of 
civilization,  whom   the  whole  world  crreets  with  acknow- 


R/U liPTIOX  AND  FKSri 1 1 IIES  ;, ,9 

lL'(lL;nicnt  and  aclmiratioii.  I  lis  countrynicii  i^rcct  him 
with  special  pride,  joy,  and  enthusiasm,  because  this  i^reat 
feat  was  acconiplislied  by  Xorwei^iaiis  alone.  Wlien  tin- 
Fram  sailed  away  slie  was  followed  with  ho|)e,  fear,  and 
doubt;  but  intelligence,  jirudence,  and  dauntless  courage 
dispelled  our  fears  and  fortified  our  hoj)es,  Colin  .Arch- 
er's Fram,  with  Svcrdrup  at  the  helm  and  Nansen  on  the 
commander's  ])ridL!,"e,  and  a  crew  of  brave  men,  concjucrcd 
the  many  ditliculties.  The  Frat)i  reached  a  point  farther 
north  than  any  other  ship  ever  did  ;  and  its  fearless  leader 
went  still  nearer  to  the  Pole  with  but  a  single  com])anion. 
defying  dangers  the  thought  of  which  makes  one  shud- 
der, and  which  cannot  fail  to  awaken  the  highest  admira- 
tion. A  kind  Providence  held  its  j)rotecting  hand  o\er 
our  countrvmen  and  insured  them  a  safe  return.  Hut  we 
will  not  give  greater  credit  to  Providence  than  i.s  its  due. 
Pro\idence  usually  sides  with  prudence  and  courage, 
therefore  we  will  rather  emphasize  the  remarkable  accu- 
racy of  Nansen's  calculations.  When  the  Fram  returned, 
a  threat  shout  of  jov  echoed  throuirh  Xorwav's  mountains 
and  all  along  its  coasts.  The  Fram  has  had  a  trium- 
phant voyage;  she  has  returned  with  her  full  crew,  unin- 
jured, and  with  stores  still  unexhausted,  —  all  visible  j)roof> 
of  the  great  care  that  has  made  this  polar  expedition  a 
success. 

".\nd  now  you  stand  here  In  the  royal  castle,  and  the 
King  of  Norway  feels  that  it  is  not  only  his  sacred  duty, 
but  that  it  is  his  incontestable  right,  to  interpret  the  feel- 
ings of  the  Norwegian  people  at  this  moment.  Accept, 
then,  through  me,  the  entire  peoj)le's  sincere  and  heart- 
felt thanks  for  what  you  have  done,  for  the  joy  you  have 
caused  in  Norwegian  hearts,  for  the   honor  and  lustre  you 


320  ^:^XSEA^  /X  THE  FROZEN  WORLD 

have  spread  over  your  fatherland.  These  evidences  of 
ajjpreciation  will  not  die,  but  will  survive  those  who  arc 
present  here,  and  will  descend  to  posterity  century  after 
century,  as  long  as  the  Norwegian  mountains  stand.  We 
will  salute  Fridtjof  Nansen  and  his  men  with  three  times 
three  cheers." 

When  Nansen  left  the  castle  at  nine  o'clock  to  drive 
to  hi.s  home,  he  found  the  city  illuminated  with  bonfires 
and  torches.  The  next  day  (Thursday)  the  city  was  astir 
earlv,  readv  ft)r  new  ovations.  In  the  forenoon  a  larije 
parade  consisting  of  over  twenty  thousand  school  chil- 
dren, dressed  in  their  best  and  carrying  flags,  passed  be- 
fore Nansen  and  his  men,  who  were  stationed  under  a 
triumphal  arch,  where  they  were  nearly  buried  under  the 
masses  of  flowers  that  the  little  girls  threw  at  them. 

In  the  e\ening  the  city  of  Christiania  tendered  the 
party  a  great  banquet,  in  which  about  fi\e  hundred  ])er- 
sons  participated.  The  next  evening  there  was  a  festixal 
performance  at  the  theatre,  after  which  a  torch-light  pro- 
cession of  students  accompanied  Nansen  to  a  banquet  at 
the  Students'  CIuId. 

The  ovation  ended  the  next  day  with  a  great  popular 
festival  in  the  open  air  at  which  over  thirty  thousand  peo- 
j^le  were  ])resent.  There  were  addresses  by  Hjornstjerne 
I)j()rnson  and  others.  Nansen  expressed  his  thanks  amid 
tumultuous  applause.  Then  followed  singing  and  dan- 
cing, illuminations  and  finjworks,  and  thus  ended  the  great 
festival  in  Christiania  where  the  whole  nation  had  united 
to  give  one  of  its  greatest  sons  a  royal  reception. 


PEARY'S  JOURNEY 
ACROSS   NORTHERN    GREENLAND 


LIEUTENANT  ROHERT  E.   PKARV,  t'.  S.  N. 


THE   NOR'ill    GRELNLAM)    EXi'EUl  1  ION    <  )E   1891-9.' 
IVrilUit  by  Eiviitd  Astrup  for  the  Geographical  Society  of  Ckristiania,  Norway 


21 


OUTLINE    OF   THE    PLAN 

Bkikki.v  tuld,  the  plan  of  Lieutenant  Peary  for  this 
expedition  was  as  follows:  With  five  or  six  companions 
he  would  land  at  Whale  Sound,  on  the  western  coast  of 
Greenland,  latitude  77°  35'  N.,  in  June  or  July.  The 
remainder  of  the  summer  and  the  autumn  were  to  be 
spent  in  erecting;  a  liut  in  which  to  spend  the  winter, 
storing  meat  and  other  supplies,  making  scientific  re- 
searches, collecting  specimens,  and  making  excursions  to 
the  inland  ice.  In  addition  to  this,  if  the  character  of  the 
season  would  permit,  a  depot  of  provisions  was  to  be 
formed  near  the  southern  corner  of  Humboldt  Glacier. 
During  the  winter  the  members  of  the  party  would  repair 
their  sledges  and  ski,  mend  their  clothes,  and  get  into 
readiness  for  use  whatever  they  might  need  for  travelling 
purposes.  They  would  also  practise  running  on  ski  and 
on  Canadian  snow-shoes.  In  the  sj^ring  four  or  five  of 
the  party  would  make  an  effort  to  cross  the  inland  ice  to 
Petermann  Fjord.  iM-om  that  point,  if  reached,  two  or 
three  of  them  would  continue  the  journey,  while  the 
others  would  return  to  Whale  Sound.  The  advance 
]:)arty  would  pusli  on  to  the  most  northern  ])oint  in  Green- 
land. Aflcr  ascertaining  its  exact  geographical  position, 
they  would  commence  the  return  trip  and  rejoin  their 
comijanions  at  Whale  Sound,  and  the  entire  party  would, 
at  the  first  opportunity,  return   to  the  United  States. 


CII.M'II.K    Will 

WINTKK    (JLAKTKKS    AND    rKKPAKA  TIONS 

I'jNiNi)  As'iKi  I',  the  autlior  of  this  .sketch  of  a  most 
remark. il:)lc  c.\i)c(lition,  was  a  younL;-  Norwr^ian  who  ae- 
comjianicd  Ijciitciiant  Peary  on  liis  perilous  journey  ovlt 
the  inhiiul  iee  and  to  the  most  northern  ])oint  of  (ireen- 
Land.     Tlic  follow  ini;-  is  his  narrative:  — 

The  number  of  members  of  this  expedition  was  five. 
Besides  Lieutenant  Pear\-,  its  eonmiander,  there  were  I  )r. 
]•.  A.  Cook,  a  ])h\sician  and  a  very  active  and  energetic 
man  who  was  about  thirt)-  years  of  a<;e;  Mr.  Langdon 
Gibson,  a  j)rominent  s])ortsman  and  an  excellent  hunter, 
who  rendered  inxalualjle  assistance  to  the  party;  Mr. 
b>hn  T.  WM-hoeff,  the  mineraloi^ist  of  the  ex|)edition,  who 
contributed  $2,000  toward  fittini;-  it  out  and  who  never 
returned;  and  nuself.  I  was  the  \()unL;est  member  of 
the  party,  not  having;  comjjleted  my  twentieth  year  when 
we  left  port.  Hach  member  tendered  his  services  without 
remuneration.  Matthew  Henson,  a  colored  man  who  had 
been  in  Lieutenant  Peary's  service  for  many  years,  went 
with  us  as  cook.  .\  reiv.arkable  innovation  which  i;ave 
the  exi)edition  an  added,  not  to  say  a  .sensational  interest, 
was  the  presence  of  Lieutenant  Peary's  wife,  who  ear- 
nestly desired  to  accompany  her  husband,  l^p  to  this 
time  no  while  woman  had  ever  ventured  into  the  Arctic 
regions. 

The    expedition  left    New    York  June  6,   1801.  in   the 


3-'4 


ACA'OSS  XORTHEKX  CKEEXLAND 


Kik\  a  small  steam  scaler.  Besides  the  members  of  the 
party,  a  number  of  scientists  from  Philadelphia  sailed  with 
us  to  make  observations  and  collections  during  the  voy- 
age, and  intending  to  return  in  the  vessel  after  having 
landed  us  at  our  northern  port. 

After  a  prolonged  and  tedious  voyage  along  the  coasts 
of  North  America  and  Newfoundland,  and  over  Davis 
Strait,  we  sighted,  on  June  23,  the  land  to  which  we  had 
longed  to  come. 

On  the  western  coast  of  Greenland  we  called  at  the 
Danish  colonies,  Godhavn  and  Upernavik.  At  each  of 
these  places  we  were  well  received  and  hospitably  enter- 
tained by  the  Danish  officers  stationed  there. 


326 


.fCA'OSS  A'OA'77/£A'A'   GREENLAM) 


On  July  2  we  were  stopped  by  ice  in  Melville  Bay,  and 
for  three  weeks  we  were  able  to  make  but  little  progress. 
Here  the  time  passed  very  slowly,  as  we  were  all  impatient 
to  reach  our  jioint  of  destination,  the  place  on  Inglefield 
Ciulf   where    we    expected  to  have    our    winter    quarters. 


Ai   K     I.N     MELVII.l.K    1!AV 


<  )iii-  principal  occuj^ation  at  this  tinie  was  the  shooting  of 
a  few  seals  and  some  sea-birds. 

On  July  I  I  a  great  misfortune  befell  Lieutenant  Peary. 
'I  his  was  the  fracturing  of  his  right  leg.  Although  com- 
pletely disabled  physically,  he  accepted  the  situation 
calmly  and  uncomplainingly.  For  four  weeks  he  was 
(onfiiK-d  to  his  bed,  but  he  ni'X'cr  lost  his  patience  or 
wavered  in  his  confidence  of  success. 

Our  first  bear  was  shot  on  July  i6.  During  the  next 
few  days  several   more  of  these  ferocious  creatures  were 


\v 


N 


328  .-ICA'OSS  XOKTHERX  GREENLAND 

seen,  but  we  were  not  able  to  get  within  shooting  distance 
of  any  of  tlieni. 

While  east  of  Cape  York,  on  July  22,  we  got  out  of  the 
pack-ice,  and  on  the  next  day  we  beheld  in  the  distance 
the  desert  coast  which  was  to  be  our  home  during  the 
coming  winter. 

The  place  which  Lieutenant  Peary  had  finally  chosen 
for  our  winter  quarters  was  situated  on  the  southern  side 
of  McCormick  Bay  a  little  south  of  latitude  ']'^°.  We 
reached  it  early  in  the  morning  of  July  24,  and  spent 
almost  the  entire  day  in  looking  for  the  most  suitable  spot 
upon  which  to  build  our  house.  Toward  evening  we  de- 
cided to  take  a  small  dry  place  that  was  near  the  coast, 
with  a  creek  running  directly  past  it. 

During  the  following  week  the  crew  were  busy  hauling 
our  provisions  and  stores,  while  we  were  equally  industri- 
ous in  building  a  house  out  of  the  materials  which  we  had 
brought  along  in  the  ship  for  that  purpose.  This  house 
was  twenty-two  feet  long  and  twelve  feet  broad,  and  was 
divided  into  two  rooms,  one  of  which  was  considerably 
larger  than  the  other.  The  walls  and  roof  were  made  of 
one-inch  boards,  which  were  covered  on  the  inside  with 
tarred  pasteboard.  A  foot  inside  of  this  wall  there  was 
another  covering  of  common  pasteboard  lined  with  thick 
blankets.  On  the  outside  a  wall  of  stone,  three  feet  high, 
was  built  around  the  house.  Upon  this  wall  we  piled  the 
numerous  boxes  and  barrels  in  which  our  provisions  were 
stored.  In  the  autumn  we  stretched  a  canvas  awning 
from  the  roof  of  the  wall  around  the  house,  and  thus 
formed  a  closed  passage  surroundincr  the  buildine.  This 
aided  greatly  in  keeping  the  interior  warm  and  cosey 
durinp;  the  W'inter. 


WlNl'KK    QiARTKRS  .L\D   J'K EJ'AKAJJU.WS        3.-9 

On  July  30  the  Kite  left  us.  after  IJeutenant  I'eary, 
who  was  still  unable  to  walk,  had  been  earried  ashore  on 
a  stretcher  which  was  constructed  for  the  occasion.  The 
house  was  then  almost  completed.  We  were  not  at  all 
sad  to  see  the  shi|),  our  last  connection  with  the  cixili/.ed 
world,  disappear  in  the  distance.  Now  we  were  alone, 
and  could  without  interruption  take  u|)  the  work  of  the 
present  and  i)re]Dare  for  that  which  lay  before  us  in  the 
coming  year. 

Before  the  house  was  quite  cr)mpleted  we  commenced 
many  other  things  that  were  to  be  done  before  winter  set 
in.  One  of  the  principal  of  these  matters  was  to  form  the 
acquaintance  of  some  Eskimos  living-  on  Northumberland 
Island  and  persuade  them  to  settle  near  our  house.  This, 
because  the\-  would  be  of  great  assistance  to  us  in  the 
winter  by  sewing  our  skin  garments,  and  might  ])e  helpful 
in  various  other  wavs.  On  .Augu.st  12  four  of  u>  set  out 
on  a  boat  expedition  to  the  island.  We  reached  it  safelv 
and  found  some  Eskimos.  The  first  meeting  with  them 
seemed  very  queer,  as  we  did  not  understand  a  word  of 
their  language  and  thev  were  ecjually  ignorant  of  ours. 
Still,  bv  means  of  signs,  we  managed  to  make  them  un- 
derstand what  we  wanted.  .A  family,  consisting  of  a  man, 
his  wife,  and  two  children,  were  willing  to  go  with  us  at 
once,  and  we  took  them  over  in  our  boat,  arri\  ing  at  the 
house  on  the  i.Sth  of  August. 

Summer  was  now  far  advanced.  Ihe  remainder  of  the 
season  was  sjx'nt  partly  in  making  short  trijjs  to  examine 
the  inland  ice  and  partlv  in  hunting  reindeer.  W'e 
needed  the  latter  both  for  their  meat,  to  help  out  our 
supply  of  food,  and  for  their  skins,  with  which  to  make 
clothing  for  the  winter.     On   the.se  hunting  trips  we  went 


330  ACA'OSS  NOKTJJERN  GRKENLAXD 

nearly  to  the  end  of  McCormick  Ba\-,  and  we  were  usually 
quite  successful.  We  had  killed,  in  all,  thirty-four  rein- 
deer that  autumn,  when  darkness  set  in  and  we  were 
obliged  to  cease  our  hunting  expeditions. 

On  October  26  the  sun  left  us,  not  to  return  for  nearly 
four  months.  During  about  half  of  this  period  there  was 
liardly  any  difference  in  the  light  between  night  and  day. 
I  will  try  to  give  an  idea  of  what  we  did  in  this  long 
period  of  darkness.  As  I  said  before,  our  hut  was  warm 
and  cosey,  and  though  the  quarters  were  close  we  all  got 
along  \ery  well.  W^e  had  three  meals  each  day.  The 
last  of  these  consisted  of  reindeer  meat  and  different 
canned  vegetables,  and  was  more  elaborate  than  either  of 
the  others.  The  day  was  spent  in  various  kinds  of  man- 
ual labor.  This  was  partly  in  the  nature  of  necessity,  as 
there  were  many  things  to  be  done  in  the  way  of  prepara- 
tion for  our  sledge  journey  in  the  following  spring.  I  did 
most  of  the  carpenter  work,  making  sledges,  ski,  and 
other  articles.  Among  the  others,  Lieutenant  Peary 
j)articularly  excelled  in  the  high  art  of  cutting  clothes,  and 
most  of  our  skin  garments  were  made  after  his  patterns. 
Dr.  Cook  performed  quite  respectable  work  as  a  tanner, 
and  Mr.  Gibson  was  equally. successful  in  the  line  of  shoe- 
making.  After  a  time  we  became  so  proficient  in  these 
occupations  that  we  jokingly  expressed  to  each  other  our 
d(Hibts  whether  we  had  ever  been  doing  anything  else  in 
this  life  but  tan,  sew,  or  cut  patterns  for  the  peculiar  fash- 
ion of  clothes  which  we  wore. 

( )n  Saturda)'s  we  began  the  day  by  sweeping  the  long 
stovepipe.  This  was  such  a  difficult  task  that  all  of  the 
male  members  of  the  expedition  were  obliged  to  help  ; 
and  when  it  was  finished,  if  one  were  to  judge  by  the  color 


WINTER    QL  ARIKRS   AM)    I'K EJ'ARAJJON^        y^x 

of  our  faces,  he  could  have  easily  imai^ined  liiat  \vc  were 
members  of  a  ne^ro  settlement  in  the  dark  continent. 
Hut  to  make  up  tor  ihi.s  discomfort  we  had,  every  Satur- 
day evening,  a  warm  bath  in  an  old  |)etr()lcum  barrel. 
The  bath  could  be  had  with  or  without  assistance,  as  the 
bather  preferred.  If  he  wanted  it.  the  help  of  two  or 
three  obliging  Mskimos,  who  used  soajj  and  scrubbing 
brush  with  considerable  energy,  was  freely  gi\xn. 

On  Sundays  we  walked  about  in  our  more  or  less  worn 
civilized  attire,  and,  considering  the  circumstances,  aj)- 
peared  to  be  a  ratlier  fine  looking  set;  but  on  Monday 
morning  we  were  content  to  put  aside  all  legards  to 
vanity  and  cheerfully  don  our  skin  clothes  again. 

The  clothes  last  named  were  made  of  reindeer  skin, 
which,  in  proportion  to  its  weight,  is  the  best  material 
known  to  fuiin^h  protection  from  tlu-  cold.  The  skins 
were  prejDared  in  the  singular  but  rather  troublesome 
Greenland  way  of  chewing  them,  after  they  are  dried,  in 
order  to  break  the  fibres.  I'he  sewing  was  done  by  the 
Eskimo  women  before  the  winter  had  fairlv  commenced. 
.Skin  clothes,  like  clothes  made  of  other  material,  wear 
out.  'Ihey  resemble  clothes  made  of  other  materials  also, 
in  that  thev  wear  more  in  some  j)laces  than  they  do  in 
others.  This  was  especially  noticeable  in  resj)ect  to  the 
trousers.  Toward  the  end  of  winter  we  all  looked  like 
gorillas.  Our  dignified  doctor  had  attempted  to  mend 
one  of  his  garments  by  putting  a  patch  of  ice  lx*ar  skin 
en  the  most  e.\ix)sed  jilace.  The  long  white  hair  stick- 
ing out  certainly  gave  him  a  comical  ai)|)earance. 

We  filled  in  a  good  deal  of  the  time  during  the  winter 
in  reading  old  newsj)apers  and  magazines,  scientific 
works,  and  Ixtoks  jjertaining  t(t  .\rctic  travel,  of  which  we 


332  AC/?OSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

had  brought  a  large  supply.  Our  evenings  were  largely 
spent  in  attempting  to  talk  to  the  Eskimos.  We  told 
them  of  the  distant  countries  to  the  south.  They  ap- 
peared deeply  interested;  but  when  we  asked  them  if  they 
would  like  to  go  with  us,  wlien  the  ship  came  to  take  us 
to  our  homes,  they  replied  with  great  earnestness  that 
they  would  never  leave  their  country  of  rocks  and  ice. 
They  often  sang  and  danced  for  us.  That  is,  one  man 
or  woman,  at  a  time,  would  go  out  on  the  floor  and  make 
the  most  hideous  faces  and  movements,  singing  more  or 
less  improvised  songs  of  a  mystic  character,  which  we 
could  not  understand,  and  beating  a  drum  as  an  accom- 
paniment. The  other  Eskimos  and  ourselves,  all  but  the 
neirro,  stood  around  the  dancer  in  a  circle.  The  negro 
sat  away  back,  on  the  edge  of  his  Ijertli,  and  played  hymn- 
tunes  on  an  accordion  which  was  sadly  out  of  tune,  as  a 
kind  of  protest  against  this  displav  of  heathenism. 

Nearly  every  day  during  the  winter  we  received  now 
visits  from  Eskimos.  This  was  especially  noticeable 
when  we  had  a  full  moon.  Then  they  would  fairlv  come 
in  droves.  On  these  occasions  some  of  them  would  buikl 
their  characteristic  cupola  formed  snow-huts  immediately 
upon  their  arrival,  and  would  settle  down  tliere  to  li\'e  ; 
while  others,  who  intended  to  stay  only  a  short  time,  were 
usually  allowed  to  sleep  on  the  floor  of  our  liouse,  where 
they  often  could  be  seen  packed  as  closely  as  sardines. 
One  can  easily  imagine  that  at  first  this  was  decidedly 
disagreeable  i:>articularly  to  our  sense  of  smell ;  but  such  is 
the  modifying  effect  of  habit  that  the  atmosphere,  which 
had  seemed  almost  suffocating,  by  degrees  became  endur- 
able, and  at  length  caused  us  no  trouble  whatever.  By 
this    intimate    association    with    the    natives,    we    soon 


WINTER    QUARTERS   AXD    ER J:  TAR  \TJO.\S       i},}, 

learned   their  characters,  and   ohtaiiud  ( ()ii.siclercil)lc  prac- 
tical knowledge  of  their  (hlfuiiU  hinL;uagL'. 

Of  course,  Christmas  imi^t  be  celebrated,  even  though 
we  could  not  ha\e  balls  and  sleigh  rides;  so  on  Christmas 
Eve  we  had  a  lap^e  dinner  jxirty.  About  six  o'clock  wc 
sat  down  to  the  table  witli  solemn  air  but  cheerful  hearts. 
We  wore  our  finest  raiment,  but  with  mo^t  of  un  this 
consisted  of  a  funn\'  mi.xtui'e  of  st\li.sh  and  im|)rovised 
clothes.  We  attacked  the  menu  in  a  resolute  manner, 
and  stopped  only  when  we  could  hold  no  more.  Then 
we  gave  room  to  our  friends,  the  Eskimos.  We  had 
several  visitors  just  then,  and  we  were  resolved  to  serve 
them  at  our  table  in  a  civili/.ed  manner.  Ilaxing  never 
before  used  knives  and  forks,  they  were  decidedly  awk- 
ward in  their  efforts  to  eat  as  white  men  do.  It  was 
quite  amusing  to  see  how  carefully  they  jjut  the  food  in 
their  mouths  for  fear  of  hurting  their  cheeks  with  the 
tines  of  the  fork  ;  and  they  seemed  to  enjoy  the  situation 
as  well  as  we  did.  Later  in  the  exening  some  of  the 
members  of  the  expedition  secretly  jjut  on  masks.  I 
shall  never  forget  the  scene  that  followed.  Old  women 
and  children  alike  screamed  with  fright,  and  even  the 
bravest  of  the  men  disajiijcared  with  remarkable  alertness 
through  the  door.  This  closed  the  festivities  of  the 
evening.  It  was  late  in  the  forenoon  of  the  next  day 
before  we  could  induce  the  good  jjcople  to  enter  our 
house  again.  When  we  exj)lained  to  them  the  mystery 
of  the  great  change  in  the  apjiearance  of  our  faces  on 
the  previous  evening,  and  showed  them  the  masks,  tiiey 
were  filled  with  admiration,  and  had  much  enjoyment 
with  the  tovs  which  had  jireviously  filled  their  minds 
with  alarm. 


3u  AC  A' OSS  yORTHERX  GREENLAND 

Between  Christmas  and  New  Year  it  snowed  almost 
incessantly.  During  the  winter  there  was  a  snowfall  of 
a  little  more  than  twenty-three  feet  The  northern  lights 
were  not  very  brilliant.  Our  chief  consolation  during  the 
long  winter  night  was  the  moon.  This  luminary,  when 
it  appeared,  stayed  with  us  uninterruptedly  for  six  or 
seven  days,  and  spread  such  a  lustre  over  the  vast  waste 
of  ice  that  we  could  easily  imagine  ourselves  in  the  land 
of  fairy  tales,  where  everything  is  made  of  shining  silver. 

Late  in  January  we  began  to  see  a  faint  light  to  the 
south,  and  not  long  afterward  we  noticed  a  brief  day.  On 
February  1 3  we  rejoiced  to  see  the  returning  sun,  that  had 
been  absent  one  hundred  and  ten  days.  Our  dark  winter 
night  had  jxassed  more  quickly  and  more  agreeably  than 
we  had  expected,  but  we  were  glad  that  it  was  over. 
Upon  myself  its  j:)rincipal  effect  had  been  to  give  me  a 
strong  feeling  of  cosiness  and  comfort  when  I  came  in- 
doors from  the  cold  and  unceasing  darkness  outside. 
After  tlie  return  of  the  sun  the  air  became  milder  day 
by  day.  During  the  wliole  of  January  and  February  the 
temperature  averaged  minus  40°  Celsius.  The  lowest  tem- 
perature noted  in  the  entire  winter  was  minus  47!°  Celsius. 

About  the  middle  of  February  we  were  surprised  by 
a  very  marked  and  interesting  change  in  the  weather. 
There  was  a  storm  from  the  southeast,  and  the  mercury 
suddenly  rose  to  5°,  with  a  heavy  rain.  This  was  be- 
tween 77°  and  78"  N.  latitude,  and  in  the  coldest  month 
of  the  year.  A  few  days  later  the  cold  was  as  severe  as 
it  had  been  during  most  of  the  season. 

March  and  April  were  busy  months  for  us  all.  The 
work  on  our  equipment  was  pushed  rapidly  forward.  We 
also  made  some  hunting  expeditions,  and  spent  seven  days 


WINTER    QiARTERS   AXD    /'R /: /'.I  R.1770\S        335 

in  a  slci<j;h  trip  .iroiiiul  Inglefickl  (iiilt.  \\y  the  ciul  of  tlu- 
latlLM-  nionlh  wc  IkkI  completed  everythiiiL;  needed  for 
travelling  over  the  inland  ice.  We  had  also  obtained,  hy 
barter  with  the  Mskinio.s,  twenty  of  their  strongest  dogs. 

Of  the  etpiipnient  1  will  mention  ski,  sledges,  Canadian 
snow-shoes,  and  sleeping-bags  made  of  reindeer  skins. 
Wc    found    afterward    that     the    sleeijing-bags    were    not 


ri:\Kv's  not  SK    vndtent 


necessary,  as  our  clothes  j)roved  warm  enough  to  sleej) 
in,  and  the  bags  were  left  on  our  way.  On  account  of  its 
heavy  weight  wc  could  not  carry  a  tent.  When  wc 
wanted  to  sleep,  in  fair  weather  we  simply  laid  down  on 
the  snow,  sheltered  by  a  sledge ;  if  it  stormed  we  crept 
under  an  oilcloth.  All  of  our  cooking  was  done  by 
the   aid  of  a  s|)irit   lamp.       I'emmican,  dried   and  ground 


55(> 


.ICA'OSS  XORTHERX  GREEXJ.AXD 


meat  mixed  with  fat,  was  our  principal  food  during  the 
whole  journey,  but  we  also  had  some  shii)sbread,  a  little 
rancid  butter,  Knor's  pea  fiour,  condensed  milk,  chocolate, 
and  meat  j^owder. 

On  April  30  we  transferred  provisions,  sledges,  and 
other  equipments  from  our  winter  quarters  to  McCormick 
Bay,  and  afterward  to  the  border  of  the  inland  ice.     It  \vas 


ICEBtRU    Ol'K   CAl'E    CLKVELAM),   .McCOKMlCK    1!AY 

exceedingly  hard  work  ;  and  as  our  course  took  us  through 
deep  drifts  of  snow  and  over  steep  heaps  of  stones,  it  was 
necessary  to  make  the  loads  very  small.  When  this  work 
was  accomplished  everything  was  in  readiness;  and  the 
small  party,  consisting  of  Lieutenant  Peary,  Gibson,  Dr. 
Cook,  and  myself,  set  out  with  hojDC  and  confidence  that 
in  due  time  we  should  reach  our  distant*destination. 


]VI.\riiR    QL'ART/.RS   .l.\/>    /'R /: /:i A'.l //().\.S       337 

/\itcr  maichiiii;  for  sr\cr.il  days  \\c  cncounlLTcd  a  furi- 
ous snow-sloim,  which  loinpclk-cl  us  to  halt.  Wc  Iniilt 
a  snow  hut  (Mshinio  ii;l()()),  in  which  wc  took  shelter. 
The  storm  ra^cd  for  thirty-six  hours.  When  it  ceased. 
and  wc  crc])t  out  ol  our  uariow  (juartcrs,  a  sad  si'i^ht  met 
our  eyes.  Our  sledges  were  nearl)-  buried  under  great 
hills  of  hard  snow,  and  two  of  our  large  tin  boxes  contain- 
ing shipsbread  had  been  swept  by  the  wind  over  a  preci- 
pice, where  we  could  not  recover  them.  Ten  of  our  dogs, 
always  restless  in  a  snow-storm,  had  gnawed  their  harness 
and  straps  in  i)ieces,  and  were  loose,  while  three  of  the 
others  had  been  attacked  ])\-  a  disease  which  the  l^skimo.s 
call  poblakto,  similar  to  hydrophobia,  and  were  at  tiie 
point  of  death.  This  was  extremely  discouraging,  as  there 
was  great  danger  that  the  other  dogs  would  fall  victims 
to  the  malady,  in  which  case  it  would  be  impossible  for 
us  to  ])rocced.  Pnring  tlic  l<»ng  storm  the  dog.s  had  be- 
come verN'  hungry,  and  those  that  had  freed  themselves 
from  their  straps  had  devoured  everything  eatable  that 
was  not  buried  under  the  snow.  Fortunately  our  j)rovi- 
sions  were  packed  in  hermetically  closed  tin  cans,  which 
proved  impervious  to  the  teeth  of  the  dogs.  The  catch- 
ing of  the  loose  dogs,  which  were  not  yet  well  acquainted 
with  their  new  masters,  was  a  difficult  task  that  not  only 
severely  tested  our  j^atience,  but  also  caused  our  sj)irits  to 
sink  to  zero. 

The  usual  method  of  catching  one  of  these  dogs  is  to 
entice  him  to  come  near  you  bv  throwing  small  pieces  of 
jK'mmican  on  the  snow,  in  a  favorable  moment  you  seize 
him  bv  the  neck  with  a  firm  grip.  \'ou  then  j)rc.ss  his 
heail  into  the  snow  and  hold  him  in  this  p<isition  until 
some  one  else  v,\n  harness   him.      if  one  is  well  pi*actiset! 


338  .IC/^OSS  XOKT]fERN  GREEXLAND 

in  tliis  work  he  can,  as  a  rule,  do  it  without  getting  bitten 
more  than  two  or  three  times.  In  two  cases  we  had  to 
lasso  the  dog  doubly,  each  man  clinging  tightly  to  his  rope 
and  a  third  man  holding  the  animal  down  in  order  to 
make  it  possible  for  a  fourth  person  to  put  on  a  new  har- 
ness or  repair  the  old  one. 


bEl'AKATlU.N    UK    ICE    I'LUl-.S 


c;ii.\i'ri:R  xix 


ACROSS     Till';    ic:h    (  Ai' 


TiiK  fallowing  clays  \\c  had  slow  and  tcdiniiN  work 
climbing  the  steep  hills;  but  after  May  i|  we  found  the 
inland  ice  slowly  sloping  u|)  toward  the  northeast  and 
.shining  with  an  iiilensL-  brighhu'ss  in  the  light  of  the  sun. 
W  L'  then  began  regular]}'  to  tra\el  at  night,  when  tlu- 
reflection  of  tlie  sun  on  the  snow  was  le.ss  annovinu- 
The  much  Wcumer  (la\  was  sacrihced  to  the  gods  of  sleep 
and  to  the  art  nf  j)reparing  tea  and  ])ea  sou|).  We 
had  reached  an  elevation  of  three  thousand  five  hundred 
feet  al)()\e  the  sea  level.  I'Our  of  our  dogs  had  died  of 
])oblakto,  so  we  oidN-  had  sixteen  of  tlie  animals  with 
which  we  had  started.  We  therefore  left  some  damaged 
sledges  and  all  the  articles  we  could  ])()ssibly  do  without. 
Even  tlun  our  outfit  weighed  about  one  thou.sand  eight 
hundred  pounds. 

On  MaN-  \~  we  reached  the  highest  |)oint  between 
Inglefield  ( ".ulf  .wmX  Kane  Hasin.  Hcforc  us,  sloping 
toward  the  north  and  northeast,  but  so  little  as  to  be 
hardly  noticeable,  lay  the  inland  ice.  I  had  often  told  my 
companions  that  this  was  the  Norwegian  Independence 
Day,  and  they  desired  to  ob.scrve  it  in  some  manner  that 
should  distinguish  it  from  ordinary  days.  I  >r.  Cook, 
who  had  the  gift  of  making  something  good  out  of  very 
poor  materials.  j)roj)osed,  after  we  had  made  our  camp  in 
the  morniii'j.  to  maki-  a  hre  out  of  a  broken  ski  and  cook 


340  ACA'OSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

a  meal  that  would  make  our  mouths  water.  He  carried 
t)ut  his  part  of  the  programme  to  perfection.  We  had 
hardly  ever  eaten  a  meal  with  greater  relish  than  we  did 
the  one  on  that  morning  of  May  17.  The  principal  dish 
was  of  the  doctor's  own  invention.  The  recipe  from 
which  it  was  made  is  as  follows :  To  one  litre  of  warm 
pea-soup,  add  some  pieces  of  pemmican.  If  the  pem- 
mican  is  frozen  hard,  chop  it  into  small  pieces  with  an 
axe.     This  will  cause   it   to  melt   more  readily.     Stir  the 


A  \  i>     II  I. s    (   (J,\ir  \.\  l(  IN.- 


whole  over  a  fire,  using  pemmican  enough  to  make  the 
mixture  quite  thick.  It  is  a  very  palatable  dish,  and,  if 
not  eaten  in  too  large  quantities,  is  easily  digested. 

On  May  iS  and  19  w^e  made  good  progress,  covering  a 
distance  of  about  twentv-two  miles  each  day.  On  May  20 
we  encountered  a  snow-storm  from  the  southeast,  and  were 
obliged  to  make  our  camp  much  earlier  than  usual.  As 
soon  as  we  halted,  we  commenced  making  a  snow  hut. 


UK    MIl'NIi.Hr    MS 


342  .ICA'OSS  XORTHKKN  GREENLAND 

Here  \vc  were  snow-bound  for  two  days.  Had  \vc 
known  that  two  and  a  half  months  would  pass  before  we 
should  again  be  under  a  roof,  we  probal3ly  should  have 
accepted  this  detention  with  much  less  dissatisfaction. 

We  were  not  able  to  resume  our  journey  until  Sunday, 
May  22.  When  we  had  removed  the  snow  with  which 
our  sledges  were  covered  we  found,  to  our  great  disap- 
pointment, that  the  only  luxury  among  our  stores  —  ten 
packages  of  fruit  preserves  —  had  disappeared.  The  ex- 
planation was  easy.  The  dogs  had  gotten  loose,  visited 
tlie  sledges,  and  eaten  what  they  found.  But  the  pre- 
serves did  not  agree  with  their  stomachs,  and  the  poor 
animals  suffered  severely  for  their  pilfering. 

During  the  next  two  days  we  covered  a  distance  of 
about  forty-four  miles,  although  we  used  neither  ski  nor 
sn()W->hoes.  On  the  morning  of  May  24  we  were  east  of 
the  Humboldt  Glacier,  and  a]:)out  one  hundred  and  thirtv 
miles  from  McCormick  Bay.  y\fter  finishing  our  meal 
Lieutenant  Peary  informed  us  that,  according  to  the  plan 
\\hi(  h  had  been  laid  out,  the  time  had  come  for  our  little 
company  to  separate.  Two  of  its  members  must  return 
to  Redcliffe  House  (our  winter  cjuarters)  and  the  other 
two  continue  the  work  of  exploration.  The  object  of  the 
latter  j^arty  would  be  to  determine  how  far  north  the 
Greenland  continent  extends.  It  would  require  a  long- 
journey  and  involve  great  difficulties.  RajMcl  traxelling 
would  be  necessary,  and  the  carrying  of  a  sufficient  quan- 
lily  of  proxisions  to  last  for  cjuite  a  ]:)eri()(l  would  be  indis- 
pensable. \{  conditions  are  favorable  a  dog  can  draw,  on 
the  inland  ice,  a  load  of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  pounds,  and  recpiires  only  about  one  pound  of  pemmi- 
can  i)cr  day  for  food.      It  was  therefore  desirable  that  the 


.ICA'O.S.S    J'llE    ICI:     1. 1/' 


343 


[)arty  proccetliiiL;  north  should  have  a  small  nuinlx-r  ol 
people  aiul  a  rclalivelv  lart^c  luinihc-r  of  clogs.  \\\\^ 
would  admit  of  the  carrying  of  provisions  for  a  longer 
l)eriod  than  would  otherwise  be  j)ossible,  and  would  also 
afford  the  means  of  taking  along  a  larger  number  of 
scientific  instruments. 

Lieutenant  I'eaiv  now  in(|uired  who  would  be  willing 
to  aceoni])any  him  farther  noi'th.  We  each  and  all  volun- 
teered. 1  le  selected  me  for  his  companion,  and  before  \vc 
returned  1  accomplished  the  end  I  had  wished  for  on  the 
day  that  I  offered  my  services  to  the  exjiedition  in  IMiila- 
delphia. 

We  now  camped  together  for  the  last  time.  After  our 
sleep  we  made  ])reparations,  in  the  afternoon,  to  i)arl, 
Ciibson  and  the  doctor  tot)k  one  of  the  smaller  sledges, 
two  of  the  dogs,  and  jjrovisions  for  twelve  days.  Lieuten- 
ant Peary  and  myself  took  the  remaining  sixteen  dogs 
and  the  other  sledges.  1  he  latter  we  tied  one  behind 
another  with  ropes.  ()ur  entire  loatl  weighed  about 
tweKe  hundred  poimds. 

When  our  two  jDarties  were  ready  to  move  \vc  shook 
hands,  the  w  hii>s  cracked,  and  we  got  under  way.  Ciibson 
and  Dr.  Cook  went  toward  the  south,  with  Redcliffe 
House  as  their  destination  ;  Peary  and  myself  ))roceedcd 
to  the  northeast  toward  the  distant  and  unknown  |)oint  at 
the  North  Cape  of  Cireenland.  There  was  deep  solemnity 
at  this  j)arting,  and  none  of  us  will  ever  forget  the  time 
when,  in  the  midnight  hour,  we  lost  sight  of  each  other  in 
the  middle  of  a  lonely  desert  of  snow.  P'rom  this  j)oint 
the  success  or  failure  of  the  expedition  depended  wholly 
ujjon  the  fate  of  only  two  men. 

i'hat    night    wt-   covered   a  distance  ol    iioi    quite    four 


344  ACROSS  XORTHERN  GREEXLAXD 

miles,  and  wc  made  our  first  canij)  alone  early  in  the 
morning.  The  next  night  one  of  the  large  sledges  broke ; 
and  as  considerable  time  was  occupied  in  repairing  it,  we 
did  not  make  much  progress.  We  had  now  reached  a 
]3lace  where  the  snow  was  loose  and  deep,  and  during  the 
three  following  nights  we  were  able  to  proceed  only  a 
short  distance. 

On  May  2S  we  shot  one  of  our  dogs.  The  weight  of 
our  provisions  had  diminished  so  much  that  a  smaller 
number  of  animals  was  needed  to  draw  the  load.  By 
killing  one  of  the  dogs  we  could  not  only  save  the  provi- 
sions he  would  have  eaten,  but  we  could  also  use  his  flesh 
as  food  for  the  others.  In  time  we  acquired  considerable 
facility  in  skinning  and  cutting  up  dogs,  but  it  was  the 
most  unpleasant  work  we  had  on  the  inland  ice.  It  made 
our  hearts  ache  to  kill  the  creatures  that  had  been  so 
faithful  to  us.  At  first  there  were  but  few  of  the  dogs 
that  had  an  appetite  for  the  flesh  of  their  fallen  comrades; 
but  later,  when  provisions  became  scarce  and  they  suf- 
fered from  hunger,  the  survivors  all  ate  it  readily. 

Three  nights  of  marching  brought  us  within  sight  qf 
Petermann  Fjord.  In  the  background  we  could  see, 
through  the  clear  air,  to  Hall  Basin,  a  good  deal  south  of 
latitude  Si".  After  this  there  were  so  many  deep  cre- 
vasses in  the  ice  that  we  were  obliged  to  turn  more 
toward  the  east  than  our  course  had  thus  far  been  di- 
rected. On  the  3d  of  June  we  had  to  kill  another  dog. 
This  left  us  fourteen. 

I*'or  a  few  days  we  made  rapid  progress.  Then  we 
again  caught  sight  of  the  mountains  on  the  coast.  Dur- 
ing a  week  of  marching  on  the  ice  we  had  made  our  way 
into  a  trap  from  which  it  took  us  several  days  to  escape. 


AC7U)SS   TJH:    JCJi    CAl'  345 

On  the  9th  and  lulli  of  Juir-  iIktc  was  a  snow-storm 
whicli  compelled  us  to  halt.  W'c  spent  the  time  under  an 
oilcloth  cover,  an  improvised  sleeping-saloon  that  was  not 
tiL!,lit  enou«;h  to  _L;ive  us  the  most  perfect  protection. 

W  hen  the  storm  was  over  we  resumed  our  march,  but 
had  not  been  moving  more  than  a  half  hour  when  we 
were  cut  off  fiom  our  course  by  large  crevasses.  We  now 
saw  that  wc  had  come  too  near  the  coast  and  were  going 
down  a  slope  that  would  lead  us  to  a  dangerous  locality. 
It  was  evident  that  we  must  again  climb  uj)  to  the  inland 
ice.  This  required  two  days  of  hard  work  to  accomplish. 
Our  best  dog  sprained  a  leg,  lagged  behind,  and  was  lost. 
We  also  lost  an  excellent  telescope  down  a  crevasse. 

The  time  that  followed  was  somewhat  monotonous,  yet 
was  full  of  interest  to  exjjlorers.  On  account  of  the 
numerous  crevasses  our  j^rogress  was  slow;  but  when  on 
June  26  we  reached  a  height  of  6,000  feet,  this  difliculty 
was  over,  and  our  s])irits  were  percejitibly  raised.  Though 
1  can  assure  \-ou  that  he  is  not  at  all  of  a  musical  turn,  I 
could  off  and  on  hear  Peary  sing,  while  I  sang  .Norwegian 
songs  as  well  as  1  knew  how.  .At  these  unusual  sounds 
the  dogs  turned  their  heads,  and  the  intelligent  look  in 
their  eyes  indicated  that  they  were  trying  to  assure  them- 
selves that  they  had  human  beings  for  companions. 

After  reaching  the  elevation  noted,  we  were  obliged  for 
four  nights  to  i^o  in  a  southeasterlv  direction,  as  our  direct 
progress  was  checked  by  a  fjord,  X'ictoria  Inlet,  that 
"icemed  to  have  no  end.  .At  last,  in  the  night  between 
|uly  I  and  2,  we  found  that  it  was  a  canal  which  sepa- 
rated the  rocks  to  the  north  from  the  real  continent  of 
Greenland.  We  were  then  at  a  height  of  5.000  feet. 
and  could  see  below  the  end   of  the  inland   ice.     Nearer 


346  .-ICA'OSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

and  nearer  we 
a  p  p  r  o  a  c  li  e  cl 
the    dark   mo- 
raine   until    at 
last  the  memo- 
rable  moment 
arrived     when 
we  set  foot  on  snow-free  land 
after  two  months  of  continuous  ski 
and  snow-shoe  running. 

It  was  nearly  midnight  when 
we  reached  tlie  moraine.  A  cou- 
ple of  snow-sparrows  chirped  us  a 
greeting  of  welcome,  and  we  heard 
the  pleasant  rippling  of  a  fountain 
among  the  large  stones  that  every- 
where covered  the  ground.  We 
did  not  need  coaxing  to  throw  our- 
selves upon  the  ground  and  drink 
freel}'  of  the  refreshing  stream. 
\'\\(:  had  never  seemed  more  beautiful  than  it  did  at  this 
moment. 

Peary  at  once  started  on  a  tour  of  discovery,  and  soon 
found  something  that  quickened  the  hunting  blood  in  our 
veins.  This  was  a  fresh  track  of  musk  oxen.  We  cer- 
tainly did  not  forget  to  take  a  rifle  and  some  cartridges 
with  us  when,  on  the  next  morning,  July  3,  we  started  on 
a  lour  with  jjrovisions  sufficient  to  last  four  days.  We 
also  carried  thermometers,  barometers,  and  photographic 
and  cooking  ajDparatus.  Slinging  our  bundles  upon  our 
backs  we  were  off.  Peary  led  the  way,  I  followed,  with 
our  .seven  dogs.  Our  sledges  and  the  rest  of  our  luggage 
we  left  behind  amon*'-  the  stones. 


A    SI'Kl'I.MKN  (iK    C.KKKNLANl) 
FLORA 


AC/^OSS   Till:    hi'.    (.//■  34; 

Up  and  down  wi-  went  lo  the  coast,  over  lulls  and  dales. 
through  creeks,  alon-;  rajjidly  running  streams,  and  beside 
sniall  dark  lakes  the  lixelong  day  before  we  stopj)ed  to 
rest,  hverywhere  ue  found  luuiiberless  sniall  loose  and 
sharp  stones,  which  made  the  march  in  (»ur  thin-solcd 
seal-skin  kanuks  a  time  of  continual  suffering. 

I)uring  the  man  h  we  collected  s|)ecimens  of  several 
minerals  and  also  obtained  a  number  ol  ivd,  yellow,  and 
white  flowers  that  enli\ened  the  otherwise  dreary  scene. 
Several  times  we  found  tracks  of  musk  oxen,  but  none 
of  the  animals  were  in  sight.  In  the  evening,  after  our 
march  of  twcKe  hours,  we  were  sore-footed  and  fagged  out, 
but  we  had  hardly  eaten  oiir  j)lain  su|)per  of  pemmican 
aiul  shipsbread  before  we  fell  into  a  sweet  sleep  lying 
among  the  stones. 

The  next  day  brought  glad  surprises  and  pro\ed  a 
great  festival  for  us.  in  the  morning,  about  an  hour 
after  resuiuing  our  journev.  we  came  to  a  rock  about 
4,000  feet  high.  I'lom  this  point,  far  awav  to  the  north- 
east, we  saw  the  ocean  covered  with  a  shining  laver  of 
white.  We  had  reached  the  east  coast,  but  we  only  had  a 
glimpse  of  what  we  desired  to  see  in  broad  expanse.  I''or 
two  hours  we  jjressed  on,  but  then  there  was  an  abru|)t 
ending  of  our  marching  for  the  day.  Right  before  us, 
and  but  little  more  than  a  half  mile  awav,  we  caught  sight 
of  something  th.il  attrac  ted  our  attention  and  caused  each 
of  us  to  utter  an  exclamation  of  glad  sur|)rise.  Two  musk 
oxen  were  luoving  over  the  stones.  We  (juickly  agreed, 
by  means  of  signs,  that  Peary  should  folU)W  them  with  the 
rille,  while  I  should  ct)nceal  our  seven  dogs,  in  order  that 
they  might  not  scent  the  game,  which  we  greatly  desired 
to  secure.     When  the  dogs  were  attended  ti*.  I  w.uted  and 


348  AC  A' OSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

listened  with  great  anxiety.  Soon  I  heard  three  sharp 
rejX)rts  of  the  ride,  by  which  my  excitement  was  made 
still  more  intense.  At  length  the  tall  form  of  Peary  came 
into  view  on  the  slope  above  me.  He  nodded,  gesticu- 
lated, and  laughed.  By  this  I  knew  what  had  occurred. 
We  were  to  have  a  supply  of  fresh  meat !  In  a  few  jumps 
I  cleared  the  hill.  The  dogs  kept  me  company,  and 
double-quick  time  was  made  to  the  ])lace  where  tlie  ani- 
mals lay.  riiere  were  two  cows  and  two  calves.  Three 
of  them  Peary  had  killed.  The  smallest  of  the  group,  a 
young  long-legged  calf,  was  alive  and  was  calling  faintly 
to  its  dead  mother  for  protection. 

After  securing  our  dogs  to  some  large  stones  we  ap- 
proached our  game.  The  grown  animals  were  as  large  as 
cows  two  years  old.  They  were  covered  with  long  black 
hair  that,  when  they  stood  upright,  nearly  touched  the 
ground.  The  heads  were  disproportionately  large,  the 
horns  were  thick  and  curved,  and  the  faces  were  half 
hidden  by  long  locks  resembling  manes.  Altogether,  the 
animals  presented  a  very  wild  and  uncanny  appearance. 

We  photographed  the  creatures  in  different  positions, 
and  then  removed  their  skins.  This  took  us  several 
hours.  Upon  searching  for  the  calf  we  found  it  lying 
dead  among  the  stones.  The  poor  creature  had  probably 
been  killed  by  fear  and  excitement. 

It  was  a  matter  of  course  that  we  should  celebrate  the 
securing  of  such  splendid  game  by  a  banquet  for  our- 
selves and  the  dogs.  Preparations  were  commenced  at 
once.  We  began  by  roasting  pieces  of  the  meat  over  our 
small  sj)irit  lamps,  but  as  this  took  a  long  time  we  became 
imjiatient  and  went  to  eating  it  raw.  I  suppose  it  was 
because  we  had  been  eating  pemmican  so  long  that  our 


.ICA'OSS    'J 7/ A    ICJ:    C.W  ,  ,.^ 

appetites  for  fresh  meat  were  almost  insatiable.  We  ate 
so  much  that  we  were  really  alarmed.  l'"or  a  while  we 
could  hardly  keep  awake.  Our  splendid  feast  was  finished 
with  a  few  cups  of  tea,  to  which  wc  added  some  milk 
obtained  from  the  cows. 

We  did   not  forget   or  omit    to  feed   the  do<;s.     They 
were   i^rcatly  excited   by  the  fresh   and    bloody  meat,  aufl 


-----^ivi^jr^^-^^ 


ji.^ 


thoroughly  cleaned  all  the  bones  of  the  large  animals.     It 
was  late  at  night  when  we  all  got  settled  down  to  sleep. 

The  next  morning  we  saw  another  lot  of  the  musk  cattle 
grazing  at  a  little  distance  from  us.  There  were  six  ani- 
mals in  this  herd.  It  was  my  turn  to  use  the  ritle.  We 
did  not  need  the  tiesh  of  more  than  one ;  and  as  I  did  not 
want  to  cause  unnecessary  injury,  I  decided  to  try  to  pick 
out  a  bull.  When  I  came  within  .shf)oting  distance  I 
selected  one  with  enormous  horns,  similar  to  the  old 
northern  drinking  horns,  that  was  evidently  the  leader  of 


350  .ICJ^OSS  XO/xTJ/ER.y  GKEEXJ.AXD 

the  band.  When  I  fired  he  fell,  fatally  wounded  ;  the 
olliers,  alarmed  at  the  report,  ran  a  few  hundred  feet  and 
then  quietly  resumed  their  grazing. 

I  left  the  animal  where  it  fell  and  at  once  returned  to 
the  camp,  in  order  that  we  might  proceed  to  a  great  rock, 
about  five  miles  away,  from  the  top  of  which  we  expected 
to  obtain  a  fine  view  of  the  surrounding  region  and  take 
some  photographs  of  the  coast.  As  we  wished  to  do  this 
and  return  before  nightfall,  there  was  no  time  to  lose. 

We  reached  the  top  of  the  cliff  about  9  a.  m.  A  mag- 
nificent view  si)read  out  before  us  —  a  view  that  will 
never  be  forgotten.  We  were  at  an  elevation  of  about 
3,800  feet.  The  rock,  to  which  Peary  gave  the  name  of 
Navy  Cliff,  ended  toward  the  north  in  a  steep  wall  that 
continued  unbroken  to  the  sea.  At  its  foot  was  a  mighty 
bay,  widening  toward  the  east  and  surrounded  by  high 
and  steejD  walls  of  rock.  How  far  this  bay  reached  we 
could  not  determine,  as  the  view  was  cut  off  by  large 
rocks ;  but  we  considered  it  probable  that  it  was  directly 
connected  with  Victoria  Inlet,  and  that  these  two  bodies 
of  water  form  a  sort  of  canal  that  cuts  off  the  land  north 
of  the  .S2d  parallel  of  latitude  from  the  real  continent  of 
Greenland.  We  firmly  believe  that  here  the  main  body 
of  land  ends  and  that  all  the  land  to  the  north  is  in-  the 
form  of  islands. 

We  took  a  number  of  astronomical  observations,  and 
then  got  out  our  photographic  apparatus  and  sketch- 
books. When  we  had  finished  our  work  we  sat  down  to 
our  dinner.  Peary  brought  out  a  small  silver  flask  con- 
taining whiskey,  which  he  carried  for  use  in  case  of  ill- 
ness. We  each  took  a  drink,  and  Peary  christened  the 
magnificent  body  of  water  we   had   found   Independence 


352  ACJ^OSS  XORTHERX  GREENLAND 

Bay,  in  honor  of  the  Fourth  of  July,  the  day  upon  which 
it  had  been  discovered.  We  then  built  a  tall  beacon  of 
stones  and  placed  in  its  centre  a  small  bottle  containing 
a  paper  upon  which  was  written  a  short  description  of  our 
trip  thus  far.  Two  silk  flags  which  we  had  brought  witli 
us  were  fastened  to  a  bamboo  pole,  which  we  placed 
among  the  stones,  and  which  were  soon  waving  in  the 
fresh  summer  breeze. 

On  the  Sth  of  July  we  commenced  our  return  trip,  tliat 
lasted  twenty-seven  days.  We  had  reached  a  height  of 
8,000  feet,  and  were  greatly  delayed  by  storms  and  deep 
loose  snow.  During  the  last  seven  days  our  average 
distance  was  thirty-two  miles  per  day,  but  during  this 
period  the  snow  was  firmer  and  the  walking  was  much 
better  than  it  had  previously  been.  During  most  of  the 
trip  Peary  used  Canadian  snow-shoes,  while  I  used  ski 
exclusively. 

On  the  5th  of  August,  as  we  were  nearing  our  winter 
quarters,  the  point  at  which  our  journey  was  begun,  we 
discovered,  at  a  distance  of  about  two  miles,  some  dark 
spots  moving  about  on  the  surface  of  the  snow.  W^e 
were  soon  convinced  that  they  were  men,  but  we  could 
only  guess  who  they  were  or  on  what  errand  they  were 
enira<{ed.  The  doctor  or  Gibson  and  some  Eskimos 
might  be  out  searching  for  us,  but  that  seemed  hardly 
probable.  We  wondered  if  they  could  be  members  of  the 
expedition  that  was  to  take  us  home  and  who  were  out 
examining  the  borders  of  the  inland  ice.  We  even  que- 
ried whetlier  tlie  ship  that  brouglit  them  might  not  at 
that  moment  be  lying  in  McCormick  Bay  awaiting  our 
return. 

Very  .soon  after  we  saw  these  men  they  caught  sight  of 


JCA'OSS    Till:    ICJ:    C.tl'  353 

US.  W  f  thought  wc  fould  distincjuish  a  faint  sound  as 
of  .shoutiuL;,  .iiul  the  rc'|)()rt  of  a  _l;uii.  W'c  an.swcrcd  im- 
mediately with  hearty  clieers,  and  I  discharged  our  rifle 
twice. 

(Jur  last  surmise  in  regard  to  the  company  proved  to 
be  correct.  As  we  a])|)roaciied  we  found  that  the  f(»re- 
most  of  the  jxirty  was  Professor  lleiljjrin,  of  Philadelphia, 
the  geologist  who  had  accomi)anied  us  on  the  trip  (^f  the 
l^revious  year,  and  who  was  leader  of  this  rescue  expedi- 
tion. The  other  members  of  the  party,  seven  in  number, 
were  also  from  Philadeli)hia.  Of  these,  four  were  scien- 
tists, one  was  an  engineer,  one  an  artist,  and  one  a  jour- 
nalist. They  were  dressed  in  modern  tourist  suits  and 
carried  shining  mountain  staffs  and  icc-a.xes.  but  none  of 
them  had  either  snow-shoes  or  ski.  .\s  the  cold  of  the 
preceding  night  had  not  been  severe  enough  to  form  a 
frozen  crust  upon  the  surface  of  the  deep  and  moist  snow, 
they  were  obliged  to  wade  in  a  substance  resembling 
powdered  sugar,  into  which  they  sank  to  the  knees  and 
sometimes  to  the  hi|)s.  The  fact  that  they  had  walked 
about  five  miles  in  thi>  terrible  slush  was  abundant  evi- 
dence of  their  zeal  and  perseverance. 

-At  a  distance  of  about  three  hundred  and  iwenty-tive 
feet  we  commenced  "  shooting  "  at  each  other  with  the 
well-known  snai)-shot  kodaks.  These  little  instruments 
with  their  short  cracks  gave  a  kind  of  warlike  appearance 
to  our  meeting  —  a  Jin  dc  siccie\ni:iViiY)'  volley,  indeed. 

As  the  parties  approached  each  other  a  glad  hurrah 
sounded  through  the  thin  mt)untain  air.  Then  came  the 
most  hearty  shaking  of  hands  and  an  enthusiastic  greeting 
of  the  men  who  had  come  with  the  steamer  KiU  to  take 
us  back  to  civilized  society.  Never  to  be  forgotten  was 
23 


354  .-if A' OSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

this  meeting  witli  fellow-men  after  seventy-two  days  of 
loneliness  on  an  almost  boundless  field  of  snow.  Neither 
can  we  ever  forget  the  intense  interest  and  deep  enjoy- 
ment with  which  we  listened  to  a  recital  of  the  great 
events  which  liad  occurred  in  the  inhabited  world  during 
the  year  that  had  passed  since  we  left  our  homes. 

Slowly  we  made  our  way  over  the  snow,  but  conversa- 
tion did  not  flag.  At  length  we  reached  the  ship.  Our 
great  journey  was  at  an  end. 

Since  leaving  the  house  we  had  spent  more  than  ninety 
days  on  the  inland  ice  of  Greenland,  and  had  travelled 
about  tliirteen  hundred  miles.  We  had  found  the  exact 
northern  extent  of  the  mighty  ice  cap  of  this  great  region, 
and,  with  a  probability  bordering  on  certainty,  had  defined 
the  limits  of  the  Greenland  continent  to  the  north.  Our 
observations  show^ed  that  the  land  rapidly  grows  narrow 
a  little  beyond  latitude  78°,  and  very  clearly  indicated  the 
existence  of  several  ice-free  islands  to  the  north  of  the 
mainland.  We  also  obtained  a  great  deal  of  information 
regarding  the  meteorology  of  the  region  and  the  height 
of  the  inland  ice. 

With  our  five  faithful  dogs  we  w^ent  upon  the  deck  of 
the  vessel.  Here  the  friendly  sailors  joyfully  gave  us 
their  hands  and  warmly  congratulated  us  upon  the  suc- 
cess of  our  exploring  tour  and  our  safe  return.  I  hardly 
need  say  that  one  of  the  first  things  w^e  did  after  reaching 
the  vessel  was  to  take  a  thorough  bath  and  put  on  clean 
clothes.  Then  an  accommodating  sailor  freed  us  from 
a  large  quantity  of  long  matted  hair.  This  gave  us  a 
rather  decent  appearance,  and  we  gathered  around  the 
table  for  dinner,  where  we  spent  abundant  time  and  did 
full  justice  to  the  meal. 


Two  clays  hitcr  \\c  had  all  of  our  lhinLi;s  on  board,  and 
tht     A7/r  Nk'anicd  down   the  bay  to  our  winter  (|uartcrs. 

I  Ik- If  \\L-  were  cordially  wclronicd  by  the  other  nieiiibers 
of  the  e.\i)e(lition,  —  the  doctor,  (iibson.  X'erhoeff,  and 
l\*ar)'s  man  Matt,  all  of  whom  met  u>  at  the  shore.  !'>(• 
hint!  them  stood  a  number  of  our  native  friends,  who  loni; 
ai;<)  had  i;iven  up  all  hope  of  our  ever  returnint;  from  the 
L;reat  mountains,  "  Sormoksuak."  Their  faces  were  beain- 
int;  with  joy,  and  the  men  listened  in  breathless  excite- 
ment when,  a  little  later,  I  L;ave  them  a  description  of  (Uir 
mcctini;  with  musk  oxen  on  the  eastern  coast.  Many 
were  the  (juestions  that  I  had  to  answer;  and  with  their 
usual  tlesire  for  exact  information,  they  were  not  satisfied 
until  I  had  given  them  ui)on  i)aj)er  a  careful  drawing  of 
our  route  over  the  inland  ice  and  of  the  coasts  beyond. 

Before  we  sailed  for  home  a  sad  misfortune  overtook 
us.  This  was  the  loss  of  our  mineralogist  and  meteoro- 
logical ob.server,  Mr.  WrhoelT,  who  jjcrished  while  on  an 
excursion  which  he  undertook  alone.  He  had  intended 
to  be  awav  for  two  days.  As  he  did  not  return  at  the  end 
of  that  time  we  began  to  feel  anxious  in  regard  to  him, 
and  on  the  evening  of  the  third  day  commenced  a  diligent 
.search.  I''(»r  seven  days  and  nights  wc  continued  our 
efforts;  but  with  the  exception  of  some  footi)rints  on  the 
snow,  not  the  slightest  trace  of  our  missing  conii)anion 
could  l)e  found,  and  we  were  forced  to  the  belief  tliat 
further   work    in   this  direction    would    be   without    avail. 

i'he  general  o|)inion  was  that  our  unfortunate  friend  had 
fallen  into  one  of  the  many  deej)  crevasses  which  make 
travelling  extremely  perilous  in  the  region  which  he  at- 
temi)ted  to  exi)lore. 

On  the  24th  of  August  the  Kife  slowly  steamed  out  of 


356 


.ICA'OSS  JV0K7IIERX  GREENLAND 


McCormick  Bay  and  away  from  our  small  winter  quarters, 
where  we  had  spent  many  happy  hours.  It  was  with 
mingled  feelings  of  joy  and  sorrow  that  among  hundreds 
of  icebergs  we  at  last  lost  sight  of  our  little  house.  Four 
weeks  later,  after  ha\ing  sojourned  for  fourteen  months 
among  desert  ice  fields,  we  found  ourselves  once  more  in 
a  civilized  land. 


/,.  -  '4/ 


I'EARY    AND   ASTRUl'    HOISTING    FLAGS    ON    NAVY    CLIFF 


CII.M'II'K    XX 

TIIK    SKCONI)    ri  .\k\     IXIlDinoN 

ScAKLKi.v  nine  months  IkuI  i)as.^c<l  after  our  return 
before  tlie  energetic  leader  of  our  ])arty  was  a<;ain  on 
his  way  north  at  tlie  head  of  another  Arctic  cxi)edilion. 

riiis  expechlion  left  New  \'ork  on  the  sealer  I'alcon 
July  2,  1S93.  it  was  much  more  fully  ec|uipj)ed  than  the 
jjrevious  expedition  had  been.  Amonir  the  novelties  were 
eij^ht  Mexican  mules,  which  were  said  to  be  of  a  remark- 
ably stron<4  and  hardy  breed,  and  which  were  taken  for 
tlie  i)urj)ose  of  transjJortinL;'  j)rovisions  from  our  winter 
tpiarters  up  to  the  Ijorder  of  the  inlaiid  iie.  We  also  took 
aloni;  a  pii^eon-house  containii\<^  a  large  nuniberof  carrier 
j)igeons.  It  was  Peary's  intention  to  use  these  birds,  while 
travelling  in  the  interior  of  Greenland,  to  carry  messages 
to  the  winter  (|uarters  of  the  expedition,  but  they  did  not 
jjrove  to  be  well  adapted  to  this  kind  of  service. 

In  addition  tt)  the  usual  number  and  kind  of  boats,  we 
were  provided  with  a  launch  fitted  with  a  jietroleum 
engine  that  wc  expected  would  be  of  great  service  in 
short  excursions  for  hunting  and  in  making  surveys  near 
our  winter  (juarters.  This,  too,  jjiowd  a  disappointment, 
as  the  boat  was  too  light,  and  the  engine  did  n(»t  give 
sufficient  |)()wer.  Teary  had  hoped,  after  the  long  winter 
set  in,  to  use  this  engine  in  the  house  in  connection  with 
a  dynamo  which  we  had  taken  along  to  furni.sh  us  with 
electric  liirhts. 


358 


.■ICA'OSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 


YOUNG    ESKIMO   GIRLS   AND   NATIVE    IILT   AT   GOUHAV.N 


W'liL'H  we  left  America  our  party  numbered  fourteen 
members.  This  number  was  later  increased  to  fifteen,  as 
Mrs.  Peary,  who  accompanied  her  husband  in  this  as  well 
as  in  his  previous  expedition  to  the  Arctic  regions,  in  the 
autumn  gave  birth  to  a  daughter,  who  lived  and  was  well 
and  strong  when  the  voyage  to  the  civilized  world  was 
made.  Mrs.  Cross,  an  elderly  woman,  also  went  with  us 
to  serve  as  cook,  and,  when  needed,  in  the  capacity  of 
nurse.  On  the  return  voyage  in  the  Falcon  the  following 
autumn,  she  was  taken  ill,  and  she  lived  but  a  short  time 
after  the  ship  arrived  at  Philadelphia. 

The  other  members  of  the  expedition  were  as  follows  : 
Mr.  hjilrikin,  engineer;  Dr.  Vincent,  physician;  Mr. 
iialdwin,  meteorologist;  Mr.  Clark,  zoologist ;  Mr.  Swain, 
secretary  and  stenographer;  Messrs.  Lee,  Davidson,  Carr, 
and  myself.     Then,  without  being  really  a  member  of  the 


36o  A  CM  OSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

expedition,  Mr.  Stokes,  an  artist,  went  with  us  for  the  pur- 
pose of  painting  Arctic  scenes.  Lastly,  there  w^as  Matt, 
Peary's  colored  servant,  who  had  accompanied  us  on  our 
previous  voyage. 

On  our  way  nortliward  llie  Falcon  stopped  at  several 
of  the  Enirlish  mission  stations  on  the  east  coast  of  Lab- 
rador  in  order  to  purchase  dogs  from  the  Eskimos.  We 
obtained  about  twenty,  and  then  set  our  course  directly 
for  Greenland.  On  July  26  we  sighted  the  lofty  snow- 
covered  mountains,  and  that  night  we  stopped  at  the 
Danish  colony,  Holstcnsborg.  Two  days  later  \\q  reached 
Godhavn  and  then  proceeded  to  Upernavik. 

On  July  31  we  passed  Melville  Ba}^  and  on  August  3 
the  Falcon  anchored  in  Bowdoin  Bay,  about  twenty  miles 
east  of  our  first  winter  quarters. 

W'c  proceeded  at  once  to  construct  a  dwelling.  On 
account  of  having  twice  as  many  peo])le,  we  were  obliged 
to  build  on  a  larger  scale  than  we  had  done  before.  The 
]if)use  was  made  thirty-three  feet  long  and  fourteen  feet 
wide  and  was  divided  into  several  small  rooms. 

On  August  20  the  Falcon  sailed  for  Newfoundland.  In 
the  following  days  the  house  was  finished  and  Peary  chris- 
tened it  Anniversary  Lodge. 

Meanwhile   I  \vas  enorao;ed  in  movino:  some  five  thou- 

£3     0  o 

sand  pounds  of  provisions  from  the  coast  to  the  inland  ice. 
In  this  work  I  had  the  assistance  of  twenty  natives.  W^e 
had  planned  to  have  the  hauling  done  by  mules,  but  of 
the  eight  which  we  had  when  we  left  Philadelphia  five 
had  died  and  the  three  that  survived  proved  entirely  un- 
fitted for  service  in  the  wild  region  to  which  we  had  taken 
them. 

During  the  months  of  September  and  October  a  good 


362  ACA'OSS  yOKTJIEKy   GREEXLAND 

deal  of  time  was  spent  in  hunting-,  in  order  tliat  we  might 
secure  a  supply  of  meat  for  use  in  the  eoming  winter. 
We  also  erected  a  depot,  in  which   to  store  provisions,  on 

the  inland  ice. 

Our  hunters  were  very  successful.  Before  the  end  of 
October  they  had  secured  seventy  reindeer  and  twenty 
walrus.  The  meat  of  the  animals  last  named  was  used 
for  feeding  our  dogs  during  the  winter.  The  autumn  was 
unusually  mild  as  far  as  temperature  was  concerned,  but  it 
was  rainy  and  disagreeable.  Bowdoin  Bay  did  not  freeze 
over  till  the  early  part  of  November.  This  was  a  full 
month  later  than  it  froze  in  1891. 

On  October  26  the  sun  left  us,  to  be  absent  from  our 
sight  for  about  four  months,  and  the  monotonous  winter 
life  began.  F"ive  days  later  a  catastrophe  occurred  that 
came  very  near  carrying  the  expedition  into  utter  ruin. 
:\  mighty  iceberg,  loosened  from  the  mountain  near  our 
dwelling,  swept  down  the  bay  with  terrific  force,  and 
caused  a  flood  that  inundated  the  shore  and  house  and 
carried  with  it  the  thirty-two  barrels  of  petroleum  upon 
which  we  were  depending  for  fuel  and  light  during  the 
winter,  h'oitunately  only  four  of  the  barrels  were  totally 
lost.  The  others  were  recovered  with  great  difficulty 
after  quite  a  proportion  of  their  contents  had  been  lost  by 
leakage.  From  this  time  we  were  obliged  to  be  very 
economical  in  the  use  of  coal  oil,  and  all  hope  of  having 
electric  lights  had  to  be  abandoned. 

\\  ith  the  ()])ening  of  winter  we  began  to  receive  visits 
from  our  friends,  the  I^^skimos,  who  helped  us  faithfully 
and  untiringly  with  whatever  work  we  happened  to  have 
on  hand.  The  months  of  November  and  December  were 
largely  spent  in  preparing  clothes  and  equipments  for  the 


TIIK   SJ'XOAn   J'EAKV  KXI'LLUTJON  363 

journey  in  tin-  rominiL;-  sprint;-.  Christmas  and  New  Year 
were  eckbralecl  in  an  appropriate  manner.  l*'el)ruary 
brought  the  severest  (old,  minus  37"  Celsius.  On  the 
14th  of  this  month  daNli^ht  ap|)rar((l  attain.  I  )urin_i^ 
the  winter  more  than  hall  of  oui"  (lo_i;s  had  (h\'d  ;  hut  as 
tlie  Eskimos  liad  a  large  numbei-,  we  had  no  dilfieulty  in 
])urehasing  thirt\-  from  them. 

On  M.ueh  0  the  whole  et|uii)ment  wds  brought  u|)  to 
the  border  of  the  inland  iee,  and  everything  was  in  readi- 
ness lor  the  long  and  wearisome  jtiuincx. 

At  this  time  1  was  attacked  b\-  an  illness,  |)robably  pro- 
duced b\-  eating  pemmican,  which  made  it  unadvisable 
for  me  to  attempt  to  take  further  j^art  in  the  work  of  the 
expedition.  I  was  comi)elled,  \er)-  reluctantly,  howe\er. 
to  give  u|)  m\  long  therished  plan,  though  at  Peary's 
request  I  remained  a  few  da\s  longer  at  the  dej)ot.  CJn 
March  1.4  I  returned  to  the  house,  accom|)anied  by  Lee, 
who  liad  frozen  one  of  his  feet  .so  seriously  that  he  could 
not  proceed  with  the  others.  About  two  weeks  after  our 
return  Dr.  X'incent  also  reached  the  house  with  I  )a\ids()n, 
who  had  frozen  one  of  his  heels,  very  badly  during  the 
terrible  ecpiinoctial  storm  that  raged  in  those  regions 
March  22  and  2,:;.  1  )ming  this  storm  the  temperature 
was  minus  45'  Celsius,  a  remarkable  i)henomenon  in  con- 
nection with  such  a  violent  wind  as  then  jjrevailed. 

After  the  storm  was  over  it  was  found  that  several  of 
the  dogs  had  bet-n  fro/i-n  to  death  and  all  of  the  otliors 
were  more  or  less  injured.  This  was  the  last  news  I 
heard  from  the  exjjedition  till  May  i,  as  1  was  absent  on  a 
sledge  lri|)  around  Melville  Hay,  which  I  undertook  with 
a  friendly  native  hunter  and  eight  dogs. 

On   my  return  to  w  inter  quarters    I    found  that   I*cary 


364 


ACROSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 


and  his  companions  had  been  compelled  to  give  up  the 
journey  and  had  come  back  from  the  inland  ice.  The 
violent  storms  and  the  extremely  low  temperature,  minus 
45°  Celsius,  had  greatly  diminished  the  nuiiiber  of  dogs. 
Mr.  Entrikin  had  both  of  his  feet  frozen,  and  all  the  other 
members  of  the  party  were  in  a  condition  which  entirely 
unfitted  them  to  continue  the  trip. 

There  is  verv  little  to  be  said  about  the  remainder  ot 


the  time  that  we  spent  in  Greenland.  We  were  all 
earnestly  longing  for  the  Falcon  to  come  and  take  us 
home. 

One  beautiful  c\cning  toward  the  close  of  July  two  na- 
tives brought  us  word  that  a  ship  had  arrived.  The  news 
was  received  with  great  joy  and  hearty  cheers. 

The  return  voyage  in  Wmi  Falcon  was  quickly  and  safely 
made,  and  was  without  any  incident  \vorthy  of  notice. 

Ihis  is  all   that  it  seems  necessary  to  say  concerning 


Tl/li    S/:cO:YD    /'/'.. //>')    J.XJ'l.PJ IION 


365 


the  expedition.  Liciileiiant  I'cai)-  reeeivecl  ii  cjuantily  cjI 
j)r()\isi()ns  and  coal  lioni  the  J'aicoii,  and  remained  at 
winter  quarters,  intending  to  s|)end  another  year  in  that 
desert   region.      Lee   and    Matt,  the  eolored  servant,   also 

remained  with  him. 


CHAPTER   XXI 

NATIVES    AT    SMITH    SOUND 

Latk  in  the  afternoon  of  July  23,  1891,  tlie  Kite  was 
slowly  ncaring  land  on  the  south  side  of  Whale  Sound. 
iM-om  the  deck  we  discovered  what  ajjpeared  to  be  human 
dwellings.  A  boat  was  quickly  lowered,  and  we  pulled 
for  the  shore.  The  land  was  considerably  elevated,  but 
we  succeeded,  though  with  some  diflficulty,  in  effecting  a 
landing.  We  then  found  a  collection  of  tents  and  earth- 
huts  situated  in  a  sheltered  position  at  the  foot  of  a 
mountain. 

There  were  about  a  dozen  people  at  this  little  settle- 
ment. The  nien  promptly  came  to  the  shore  to  meet  us, 
but  the  women  and  the  children  cautiously  kept  in  the 
backgroun'd.  Two  of  us  involuntarily  held  out  our  hands 
to  greet  them  in  the  manner  of  civilized  people,  but  our 
action  made  a  singular  impression  upon  those  with  whom 
we  desired  to  become  acquainted.  Instead  of  shaking 
hands  they  stared  at  us  with  surprised  looks  upon  their 
faces,  apparently  without  the  slightest  idea  of  what  we 
meant.  Soon,  however,  they  seemed  to  understand  that 
we  were  peaceable  people,  and  that  we  had  no  intention 
of  injuring  them.  Then  all  was  changed,  and  the  scene 
which  at  first  had  been  quite  dull  became  very  lively  and 
interesting. 

One  of  our  sailors  who,  during  the  landing,  happened 
to   be    smoking  a  short    pipe    attracted  a  great    deal    of 


NATIVES   A'r  SMiril   .\()r.\7>  367 

attention,  antl  tlic  clouds  of  suiokc  that  he  jjuffcd  out  at 
intervals  made  a  stroni;  inij)ression  uj)on  the  natives,  who 
evidently  ihoui^lil  he  was  endowed  with  mystical  and 
supernatural  .L;ilt>.  I'heir  astonishment  was  L;reatly  in- 
creased when,  with  a  (|uick  movement,  he  Hi;IUed  a  match 
and  thus  produced  still  lari;er  clouds  of  smoke  from  his 
remarkal)le  "lamp."  It  was  evident  that  the  peojjle  be- 
fore us  had  ne\ei-  lonie  in  contact  with  civilized  men,  and 
that  most  of  them  had  ne\er  seen  a  shijj.  The  latter 
appeared  to  them  a  wonderful  object. 

The  natives  were  not  the  only  ones  who  were  inter- 
ested and  surprised.  Their  aj)pearance  made  as  stroni; 
an  impression  ui)on  our  minds  as  we  had  made  u|)on 
their  own.  Uncouth,  dirt\-,  and  with  features  anything 
but  regular,  they  seemed  to  beloiiLi;  to  an  inferior  race, 
while  their  loni:;,  shaL;L;"y  black  hair,  whic  h  huiiL^  owr  their 
skin-clothed  shoulders  and,  in  some  cases,  even  t)ver  their 
small  dark  eyes,  gave  them  a  singularly  sinister  and  an 
almost  terrifying  ai)i)earance. 

Later  on  I  saw  that  some  of  the  natives  were  not  so 
ncijligent  in  regard  to  their  hair  as  were  those  with  whom 
we  here  came  in  contact.  Some  of  the  women,  esj)ccially 
the  younger  ones,  often  had  their  hair  fastened  in  a  s(»rt 
of  topknot  by  a  thin  seal-skin  straj).  Sometimes,  too.  a 
man  would  be  seen  having  a  similar  strap  around  his 
head,  in  order  to  keej)  hi>  eyes  free  from  his  long  grc.isy 
locks  of  hair.  These  locks,  which  closely  resemble  the 
manes  of  horses,  are  knotted  into  solid  masses,  and  make 
nice  and  warm  domiciles  for  numerous  jmrasites. 

The  Eskimo  forehead  is  low,  the  face  broad,  and  the 
features  ugly.  The  eyes  are  almond-shaped  and  small, 
but   their  power  of  vision  is  really  wonderful.     The   n(»se 


368  AC/^OSS  i\ORTIIERN  GKEENLAXD 

is  small  and  broad,  the  mouth  large  with  thick  lips,  which 
with  the  fair  sex  have  no  resemblance  to  the  ideal  '*  cherry 
lips  "  of  which  so  much  is  said  and  written  by  civilized 
jjcople.  Probably  this  is  the  reason  the  men  do  not  kiss 
their  wives,  but  instead,  if  they  wish  to  show  especial  ten- 
derness, press  their  flat  noses  still  flatter  against  the  faces 
of  the  others.  As  a  rule  this  caress  is  accompanied  by 
an  audible  sniff. 

Within  the  protruding  lips  shine  rows  of  strong  teeth 
which  are  firmly  set  in  heavy  muscular  jaws,  and  which 
are  used,  not  only  for  eating,  but  also  for  pulling  loads 
and  in  the  various  kinds  of  their  daily  work. 

The  women  also  understand,  as  well  as  their  sisters 
livine  farther  south,  how  to  use  their  mouths.  Some- 
times,  too,  they  use  them  for  very  practical  purposes.  As 
a  single  illustration,  I  will  mention  the  fact  that,  after  it 
has  been  stretched  and  dried,  they  chew,  inch  by  inch, 
each  skin  that  the  men  secure  in  hunting.  In  this  way 
they  make  the  skins  so  pliable  that  they  can  readily  be 
made  into  clothes. 

From  the  description  I  have  given  it  will  readily  be 
seen  that,  if  judged  by  his  face,  an  Eskimo  would  not  take 
a  i)rize  at  a  beauty  show  in  competition  with  Europeans. 
The  bodies  come  much  nearer  our  ideal,  and  the  hands 
and  feet  are  of  only  medium  size  and  are  well  formed, 
though  the  appearance  of  the  men's  hands  is  often  in- 
jured by  numerous  cuts  and  scars. 

In  regard  to  the  color  of  the  skin  of  these  people  it  is 
difficult  to  form  a  correct  opinion.  This,  because  of  the 
dirt  with  which  it  is  thickly  and  almost  constantly  coated. 
When  sufficiently  clean  to  show  its  natural  tint  it  appears 
to  be  a  light  brown  shaded  with  yellow  or  gray.     Though 


NATIVES  AT  SMIlIf  SOCND  369 

it  gixcs  tlicni  a  dcciclctlly  uni)lc'asaiU  apj)carancL',  the  un- 
clcanncss  of  the  Eskimos  at  Siiiilh  Sound  should  not  be 
made  too  much  a  nialter  of  reproach.  It  is  one  of  the 
natural  and  almost  iiu-xitable  consequences  u[  the  hard 
conditions  under  \\hi(  h  they  live. 

During  nine  or  ten  months  of  the  year  all  the  water 
they  ha\e  for  drinking,  cooking,  and  other  j)urp<)ses  is 
obtained  by  melting  snow  or  ice  in  stone  vessels  which 
are  held  over  small  flames  of  blubber.  This  is  not  only 
slow  and  toilsome,  but  if  done  to  any  great  extent  it  also 
requires  a  larger  quantity  of  blubber  than  they  can  well 
j^rovide.  Consequently  a  bath  is  an  unknown  and,  under 
existing  circumstances,  an  almost  impossible  luxury. 
Still,  if  they  were  anxious  to  be  clean  they  miLrht  do 
something  in  this  direction  by  means  of  a  wet  bird-skin 
or  a  sharj:)  st(Mie.  And  I  think  we  awakened  some  inter- 
est in  this  resjK'ct  during  our  sojourn  with  them.  The 
women,  in  whom  a  desire  to  please  seemed  as  strong  as  it 
is  in  their  sisters  of  civilized  lands,  certainly  made  some 
attcmjHs  to  improve  their  appearance. 

Possibly  one  reason  why  these  |)eople  care  so  little 
about  cleanliness  is  the  fact  that  it  docs  not  apj^car  to  be 
essential  to  health.  The  air  seems  to  be  free  from  bac- 
teria, and  the  se\ere  and  long-continued  cold  evidently 
tends  to  jircvcnt  the  diseases  which  filth  is  certain  to  gen- 
erate in  warm  climates. 

The  natives  at  Smith  Sound  are  isolated  from  all  other 
tril)es.      In    1S92   there  were  two  hundred  and  thirty-four 
individuals.      During  the   next    two  years  the  number  of 
births  exceeded  that  of  the  deaths  by  nine. 
24 


CHAPTER    XXII 

HUNTING 

In  order  to  obtain  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  Eski- 
mos it  is  necessary  to  observe  tliem  at  their  daily  occu- 
pations, k'irst  of  all,  you  must  go  hunting  with  them. 
Autumn  has  come,  and  in  every  day  that  passes  the  sun 
draws  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  southern  horizon.  Ere 
long  comes  a  day  when  it  sends  its  last  golden  greeting 
to  the  desert  landscape  and  disappears  from  view.  In 
a  lonely  and  protected  fjord  you  will  see  a  red-cheeked 
I^^kimo,  who  by  jumping  over  the  blocks  of  ice  near  the 
land  has  succeeded  in  setting  foot  on  the  newly  frozen 
autumn  ice.  His  face  is  beaming  with  joy.  Life  is  offer- 
ing him  many  attractions.  Summer,  with  its  constant 
smiles  day  and  night,  had  begun  to  be  somewhat  monoto- 
nous, and  he  greets  the  winter  as  a  dear  and  welcome 
guest.  Now  tliat  new  ice  has  formed  on  the  bay  he  can 
begin  the  exciting  hunt  for  seals.  On  the  shore  in  front 
of  the  low  hut  stands  his  young  wife,  smiling  at  the 
thought  of  soon  having  some  fresh  seal  meat  after  living 
during  the  summer  upon  tough  narwhal  flesh  and  the 
auks,  which  furnish  most  of  the  food  supplies  during  that 
season. 

Cautiously  the  native  tries  the  strength  of  the  ice  with 
his  seal-s]3ear,  and  moves  farther  and  farther  out  upon  its 
glassy  surface.  Smaller  and  smaller  he  seems  to  become, 
until  at  length  he  disappears  behind  an  immense  iceberg. 


in'XTIXG 


.17' 


riii.s  is  too  nuuli  for  liis  tlircc  faithful  dogs  to  (|uietly 
bear.  Standin-;  on  the  slioiv,  they  have  watched,  with 
ears  erect,  and  willi  every  indication  of  intense  interest, 
their  master  on  his  lonely  walk.  They  now  |)ull  iinj)a- 
tienlly  at    the  straj)s   with    \\hi(h    ihcy  are   tied   to  heavy 


Z')^ 


-  ■  «»*i''"~-^'*=^- 


\\  \  H   IIINd    1  (U;    n1    \|. 


>toiHs.  and  tlu'ir  plaintive  howls  fill  the  air.  They  reali/.e 
that  the  ice  is  strong  enough  to  bear,  and  still  they  arc 
left  behind.  Does  their  master  forget  liow  cheerfully  they 
used  to  draw  him  on  the  sledge  over  the  ice.**  His  appar- 
ent neglect  seems  more  than  they  can  endure.  Their 
howls  become  still  louder  and  more  dismal  until  his  wife 
goes  uj)  to  them  and  pets  them  all.  Then  they  lie  down 
o!i  the  cold  rocks  and  go  to  sleej). 

Meanwhile  the  hunter  continues  his  walk  upon  the  ice. 
I  le  moves  slowly,  and  has  an  air  of  constant  watchfulness. 


372  .IC/^OSS  NORTHERX  GREENLAND 

In  his  right  hand  he  carries  a  seal-spear  and  the  line 
belonging  to  it.  In  his  left  hand  he  has  a  piece  of  bear- 
skin, and  fastened  with  a  strap  on  his  back  is  a  well-worn 
huntinir-knife  with  a  handle  made  from  the  tooth  of  a 
walrus. 

Suddenly  lie  stops  and  bends  over  the  ice.  He  has  dis- 
covered an  opening  about  five  inches  in  diameter.  This 
is  a  breathing-hole  of  a  seal.  He  now  cautiously  places 
the  small  piece  of  skin  on  the  ice  near  the  hole,  and 
quietly  sits  down  to  await  the  appearance  of  the  seal. 
But  as  a  seal  often  has  several  of  these  breathing-holes 
it  may  be  a  long  time  before  he  will  come  to  the  one 
at  which  the  hunter  is  located.  Patiently  the  hunter  sits 
there,  hour  after  hour,  like  a  cat  watching  a  rat-hole,  until 
the  nose  of  the  seal  appears  in  the  small  opening. 

This  is  a  critical  moment.  The  opening  is  small,  and 
the  spear  must  be  guided  with  a  true  aim  and  sure  hand 
or  the  game  will  be  missed,  and  the  long  and  weary  wait 
will  bring  no  return.  If  the  hunter  fails,  and  there  is  a 
lack  of  food  at  the  house,  he  must  either  wait  again  or, 
if  he  happens  to  know  of  other  breathing-holes,  go  as 
quickly  as  possible  to  the  one  which  he  thinks  the  fright- 
ened seal  will  be  the  most  likely  to  visit. 

If  he  hits  the  seal  lie  finds  that  the  opening,  which  was 
made  only  for  its  nose,  is  much  too  small  to  allow  the 
body  of  the  animal  to  come  through.  He  therefore  at 
once  sets  to  work  to  enlarge  the  spot.  This  work  is  done 
with  the  hunting-knife,  which  is  used  with  wonderful  dex- 
terity. If,  when  it  is  jDulled  upon  the  ice,  the  seal  is  not 
dead,  it  is  killed  with  the  knife,  but  with  a  bone  needle 
the  hunter  soon  sews  ujj  the  wound,  in  order  to  prevent  as 
far  as  possible  the  loss  of  blood. 


HUNTING 


373 


Then,  with  his  heart  filled  with  joy,  the  native  returns 
to  the  shore  to  i^et  the  dogs  and  sledjrc  with  which  to 
take  the  game  home.  He  could,  without  much  difliculty. 
l)ull  the  seal  along  over  the  snow-free  ice,  hut  the  desire 
to  enjoy  the  tirst  sledgc-ride  of  the  season  is  too  strong  to 
be  resisted. 

He  is  soon  with  his  dogs,  'lln.)  gnri  hmi  with  deaf- 
ening barks  as  he  approaches  the  shore.  Ihey  are 
c|iii(  kly  loosened  and  everything  is  made  ready  for  the 
tii|).  With  a  j)ractised  hand  the  master  swings  the  short 
whij)  handle,  to  which  a  lash  about  seventeen  feet  in 
length  is  attached,  and  the  team  carefully  picks  its  way 
o\er  the  rough  stones.  When  the  clear  ice  is  reached  it 
strikes  into  a  full  gallojj.      No  reins  are   used   in   guiding 


SLVAtGR   FROM   SMITH    S«»l'ND 


tb. is  wild  team.  Only  the  \\hi|)  is  needed  for  their  con- 
trol. When  the  driwr  beats  on  the  ice  to  the  left  of  the 
animals  the\-  go  to  the  right,  and  when  he  strikes  the  ice 
ori  the  other  side  they  move  to  the  left.  If  he  wants  to 
hurry  one  of  the  dogs  he  knows  how  to  touch  a  tender 
sjjot,  but  he  is  usually  careful  not  to  be  too  severe. 

The  seal  is  soon  reached  and  jjlaced  upon  the  .sledge. 
C)n  the  way  home  the  hunter  may  make  a  detour  to  j»omc 


374  ACA'OSS  NORTHEKX  GREENLAND 

tongue  of  land  where  he  has  a  fox-trap  which  he  wishes 
to  examine  and  see  if  it  is  in  order  for  the  coming  winter. 
These  trajjs  are  made  of  flat  stones  of  about  uniform  size, 
and  placed  in  a  rectangular  i)osition.  A  large  flat  stone 
is  so  arranged  that  when  a  fox  pulls  at  a  piece  of  blubber 
that  is  placed  at  the  farther  side  of   the  inclosure  it  falls 


ESKIMO    FOX-TRAP 


and  completely  closes  the  opening  by  which  he  entered. 
How  many  foxes  are  caught  in  this  way  I  cannot  tell,  but 
it  must  be  a  large  number.  It  requires  about  eight  skins 
to  make  a  coat  for  a  man,  and  the  garments  are  not  very 
du  ruble. 

Formerly  the  Eskimos  made  traps  in  this  form,  but 
considerably  larger,  for  bears.  In  1894  I  saw  the  ruins  of 
an  immense  trap  of  this  description  on  the  now  uninhab- 
ited Hllesmere  Land.  But  at  present  such  means  are  not 
employed.  A  considerable  number  of  bears  are  killed  in 
these  regions  every  year,  but  the  work  is  done  in  a  braver 
manner  than  by  catching  them  in  traps. 

The  finest  place  for  bear-hunting  is  south  of  Cape 
York,  on  the  ice-bound  Melville  Bay.     Out  on  these  vast 


jii  yrixG 


375 


fields  of  ice,  far  from  honu',  the  I'-skinio  has  foui^ht  many 
a  liard  battle  with  the  large  and  powerful  .Arctic  bear. 

'1\)  conduct  such  a  battle  successfully  both  courage  and 
presence  ot  mind  are  re(|uiie(l.  Conseijuentlv  some  of 
the  natixes  are  much  i)(.tter  adajjted  for  this  work  than 
are  others.  At  the  piescnt  lime  one  of  the  most  j)romi- 
nent  hunters  in  this  >t.(ti(in  is  a  man  named  Akpallia. 
When  we  saw  him  in  iScji  he  called  himself  Nordingjer, 
but   two  years    later  we   found   that,   without  ai)j)lying    to 


HEAR    AITACKIN',    -■>!  Al. 


the  courts  for  permission,  he  had  clianged  liis  name.  I 
could  not  obtain  from  him  any  definite  information  re- 
garding the  reason  for  this  proceeding.  Pos>ii)ly  he  liatl 
been   bothered    with    letter^   intended    for  another  person 


376  ACA'OSS  NORTHRRX  GREEXLAND 

uf  the  same  name.  Well,  however  the  matter  may  be 
explained,  the  man  is  an  experienced  bear-hunter.  He  is 
nearly  forty  years  of  age,  and  many  a  hairy  giant  has  per- 
ished at  his  hand.  Soon  after  his  return  from  a  hunting- 
trip  I  obtained  shelter  for  the  niglit  in  his  hut.  It  was 
rumored  that  for  once  the  bears  had  the  best  of  the  fight, 
and  that  they  had  torn  one  of  his  arms  and  also  killed 
two  of  his  dogs.  After  making  many  inquiries  I  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  from  him  an  account  of  his  latest 
trip.  This,  in  substance,  I  will  repeat,  as  it  will  give  the 
reader  a  pretty  good  impression  as  to  the  general  method 
in  which  bear-hunting^  is  conducted. 

During  the  month  of  March  Akpallia  suddenly  felt  an 
ardent  desire  to  revisit  Melville  Bay,  his  old  hunting- 
ground.  He  promptly  repaired  his  sledge,  patched  his 
bird-skin  shirt  (he  was  a  widower  and  therefore  had  to  do 
this  work  himself),  and  gave  his  dogs  a  good  meal.  This 
done  he  took  a  long  sleep,  and  in  the  morning,  after 
leaving  his  children,  a  boy  and  two  girls,  in  the  care  of  a 
neighbor,  he  started  on  his  expedition.  Four  days  later 
he  arrived  at  Cape  York,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
miles  distant  from  his  home.  Here  the  bear-hunters  have 
their  headquarters.  There  are  usually  several  families 
located  at  this  point,  and  most  of  the  men  are  expert 
hunters. 

/\kpallia  remained  for  a  couple  of  days  among  the 
llesh-pots  of  the  Cape  York  colony.  Two  of  the  local 
hunters  agreed  to  accompany  him  on  his  intended  trip. 
(Jne  of  these  was  only  a  half-grown  lad,  but  he  w^as  taken 
along  because  he  was  the  owner  of  a  genuine  gun.  This 
he  had  obtained  from  the  crew  of  an  English  whalingr 
ship  in  exchange  for  a  large  quantity  of  ivory,  and  he  was 


///  .\  J7XC  ijy 

much  elated  al  st'curiiii;  what  he  consiflorcd  a  ij^reat  bar- 
gain. Though  at  tliis  lime  he  had  only  powtler  L-nough 
for  two  loads,  and  had  no  lead  for  balls,  but  was  obligctl 
to  use  small  stones  in  their  >tead,  and  though  by  an  un- 
fortunate explosion  the  leni;th  of  the  barrel  had  been  re- 
duced to  about  twenty  inches,  the  gun  was  still  regarded 
as  rather  a  formidable  weajjon,  and  its  young  owner  was 
as  highly  regarded  b)  his  comrades  as  though  he  had 
killed  a  dozen  bears. 

At  length  the  three  hunters  left  Caj)e  York.  'I'hey 
had  three  sledges  and  fifteen  dogs.  I*'or  two  days  their 
search  was  in  vain,  but  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day 
they  found  the  fresh  tracks  of  bears. 

One  who  has  never  seen  the  I^skimo  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances can  form  no  adequate  idea  of  the  intense  ex- 
citement into  which  he  is  thrown  bv  such  an  e\ent.  The 
dogs,  too,  show  a  wonderful  degree  of  interest,  holding 
up  their  heads,  erecting  their  ears,  and  eagerly  gazing 
over  the  great  white  field  of  ice.  Their  masters  talk  in 
raj)id  whispers,  stop  and  listen,  run  a  short  distance,  tlien 
stop  and  look  around  again,  until  the  observer  begins  to 
seriously  (juestion  whether  j)eoi)le  who  act  in  sm  h  an 
apparently  ridicuk)us  manner  because  they  have  found 
the  tracks  of  a  bear  can  be  skilful  hunters.  Hut  further 
observations  will  convince  him  that,  notwithstanding  such 
childish  actions  at  certain  times,  they  show  the  most  won- 
derful jjiesence  of  mind  when  in  dangerous  situation.s. 

The  tracks  discovered  by  our  friends  were  those  of  a 
female  bear  and  her  two  cubs.  I-'or  a  time  the  hunters 
all  followed  the  same  tracks  ;  but  wiien,  after  proceeding 
for  some  distance,  they  came  to  the  fresh  track  of  a  sin- 
gle bear,  leading   in   an   entirely  different  direction,  tliey 


37S  .ICA'OSS  .\ORTHEKN  GREENLAND 

parted,  Akpallia  choosing  to  follow  the  track  last  discov- 
ered and  to  attempt  to  kill  the  bear  without  the  aid  of  his 
companions. 

At  leni^th  he  caught  sight  of  the  bear  of  wliicli  he  was 
in  pursuit.  It  was  lying  at  the  foot  of  an  iceberg,  quietly 
sunning  itself,  but  so  far  away  that  it  appeared  like  an 
almost  shapeless  mass.  The  excitement  of  the  hunter  is 
now  intense.  In  a  hoarse  and  muffled  voice  he  exclaims 
to  his  dogs,  '' Takkotakko !  takkotakko !  "  (look!  look!). 
The  doers  at  once  turn  their  heads  inquiringly  toward 
their  master  as  if  to  ask  if  he  has  really  discovered  some- 
thing. They  can  only  see  the  monotonous  snow-drifts 
and  the  fields  of  ice,  which  stretch  in  every  direction  be- 
yond the  utmost  limit  of  their  vision.  Then  he  con- 
tinues:  " Nannuk  !  nannuk  !  nannuksua!"  (a  bear!  a 
bear!  a  large  bear!).  Hardly  are  these  words  uttered 
when  the  dogs  become  so  excited  tliat  he  cannot  restrain 
them.  They  leave  the  long  circuitous  course  of  the 
track  and  rush  instinctively,  and  in  the  wildest  haste, 
in  the  right  direction. 

When  tliey  are  only  about  a  half  mile  distant  from  the 
bear,  he  rises  and  for  a  moment  stands  erect,  with  head 
and  neck  stretched  out  toward  the  approaching  team.  In 
this  jjosition  he  becomes  visible  to  the  dogs,  who  now  pull 
tlic  sledge  over  the  ice  with  increasing  fury.  The  bear 
appears  to  know  by  intuition  the  bloodthirsty  character  of 
the  Kskimo  and  his  swift-footed  dogs,  and  with  all  possible 
speed  h('  flees  from  tlie  dangerous  place.  Akpallia  jumps 
fioin  tlic  sledge  to  make  it  lighter  for  the  dogs,  and,  hold- 
ing with  his  hands  one  of  the  guiding  arms  behind,  his 
legs  dance  wildly  under  him  as  he  follows  the  frenzied 
animals. 


lirXJIXG  379 

The  bear  runs  fast,  but  he  cannot  go  as  rapidly  as  the 
dou[s.  The  distance  between  them  becomes  jK-rceptibly 
shorter.  lUil  AkpalHa  has  to  jum|j  on  the  sledge  again 
in  order  to  sa\e  his  strentrth  for  the  cominir  struirirlc. 
lie  is  a  rather  laige  man,  and  his  weight  considerably 
retards  the  sj)ee(l  of  the  dogs,  but  he  knows  that  bears 
cannot  run  a  long  distance  and  that  the  hunted  animal 
will  soon  he  obliged  to  slacken  his  j)ace. 

At  length  the  team  i>  within  about  four  hundred  feet 
of  the  bear.  Then  .\k|)allia  bends  over  and  cuts  the  roj)e 
that  keejos  the  dogs  together.  The  sledge  stops  instantly 
and  the  loosened  dogs  rush  for  the  enemy  with  almost 
lightning  speed.  As  soon  as  the  bear  j)erceives  that 
flight  will  be  of  no  a\ail,  he  turns  and  faces  his  assailants. 

Meanwhile  Akpallia  has  seized  his  s])t'ar  from  the 
sledge  and  is  hasting  to  the  battle-held.  This  hardy  son 
of  the  icy  de.sert  knows  nothing  of  fear,  llis  two  com- 
}xmions  long  ago  disaj)j)eared  in  the  distance.  .Single- 
handed  he  is  to  light  a  ferocious  beast  t)f  prey  —  a  beast 
that  with  one  blow  of  its  paw  can  easily  take  his  life. 
Intelligence,  coolness,  strength,  courage,  endurance,  and 
agility  will  all  be  recpiired  to  gi\e  him  a  fair  probability 
that  the  conflict  will  nwCi  to  his  advantage. 

As  soon  as  .Akpallia  reaches  his  j)rey  he  grasps  his 
spear  with  both  hands,  and  with  all  his  strength  endeavoi-s 
to  j)ier(e  the  bear  to  its  luait.  lUit  the  animal,  turning 
suddenly  and  unexpectedlv,  deflects  the  ( oursc  of  the 
spear,  and  its  j)(iint  strikes  his  broad  shoulder-blade.  In 
a  moment  the  bear  breaks  the  spear  with  his  jiaw  and 
Akpallia  is  disarmed.  Wholly  ignoring  the  barkii\g 
dogs,  the  wounded  animal  turns  in  rage  uj)on  the  hunter. 
Aki)allia  takes  a  few  steps  in  the  snow    in  order   to  reach 


38o  ACROSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

his  knife,  which  he  threw  down  when  preparing  to  make 
an  attack  with  the  spear,  but  his  foot  sHps,  he  falls,  and 
the  next  instant  a  forepaw  of  the  bear  is  resting  heavily 
upon  the  upper  part  of  his  left  arm.  With  almost  super- 
human efforts  he  tries  to  get  free,  he  screams  in  the  face 
of  the  mighty  brute  in  hope  of  scaring  it  away,  he  strikes 
against  its  breast  with  his  fist.  All  in  vain  !  The  claws 
of  the  bear  have  penetrated  deeply  into  his  iiesh,  and  he 
cannot  loosen  their  hold. 

It  is  only  because  the  bear  has  other  foes  that  are  dis- 
tracting his  attention  that  he  does  not  do  the  hunter 
more  harm.  No  sooner  do  the  dogs  see  the  predicament 
in  wliich  their  master  is  placed  than  they  make  a  fero- 
cious but  foolhardy  attack  upon  his  foe.  The  two  oldest, 
a  pair  of  handsome  animals  resembling  wolves  in  appear- 
ance, that  have  been  with  their  master  in  many  a  hard- 
fought  battle,  attack  the  bear  in  front,  one  of  them  even 
biting  the  paw  that  holds  the  arm  of  his  master  in  the 
snow.  But  the  bear  does  not  loosen  its  grip.  With  a 
quick  blow  of  the  other  paw  it  puts  one  of  the  dogs  out  of 
the  fight.  The  situation,  w^hich  was  dangerous  before, 
has  now  become  desperate.  But  it  soon  grows  worse. 
Another  bear  appears  from  behind  an  iceberg  near  by,  a 
second  dog  has  fallen  bleeding  upon  the  snow,  and 
Akpallia  appears  to  be  beyond  all  hope  of  deliverance. 

At  this  critical  moment  two  sledges  appear.  They  are 
coming  at  full  speed  around  the  iceberg,  w'hich  had  long 
kept  the  bear  last  noted  from  view.  With  these  sledges 
are  the  comrades  of  the  prostrate  hunter.  Seeing  his 
condition,  they  give  terrific  yells,  which  he  answers  with 
loud  calls  for  help. 

The  bear  now  leaves  his  victim,  joins  the  other  beast, 


"  raiiri"    -  '■ 


Kskiiiio  k!..\ 


Knife  with  Ivory  Blade  and  Wooden  Handle 


i;,.w. 


Arrow- Head,  one  fourth  actual  wie 
DIKKIKENT    WI  APONS  ANU   IMPI-EMKNIS 


382  ^C/i-OSS  XORTHERX  GREENLAXD 

aiul  Akpallia  is  saved.  The  dogs  from  the  newly  arrived 
sledges  are  set  at  liberty,  and  intercept  the  bears  in  their 
tlight.  After  a  short  but  sharp  fight,  in  which  the  dilapi- 
dated gun  plays  an  important  part,  the  huge  beasts  are 
slain.  Then  Akpallia's  wounds,  which  fortunately  have 
not  caused  much  loss  of  blood,  are  bandaged  with  Ion 2: 
>lrip.s  of  dirty  and  greasy  seal-skin,  the  bears  are  skinned, 
and  as  much  of  the  meat  as  can  be  carried  is  loaded  upon 
the  sledges. 

One  of  the  wounded  dogs  had  died  upon  the  spot. 
The  other  was  still  alive,  and  was  taken  home  on  a  sledcre. 
In  due  time  the  hunters  reached  the  colony  at  Cape  York, 
whiere  their  adventure,  with  all  of  its  details,  was  de- 
scribed to  an  interested  and  appreciative  audience. 

Similar  things  often  occur  in  Eskimo  bear-hunts.  The 
life  of  the  hunter  is  like  a  game  in  which  no  one  can 
refuse  to  take  part.  The  stakes  are  high,  even  life  itself; 
clothes  and  food  sufficient  to  last  for  only  a  short  time  are 
the  prizes  to  be  gained. 

The  manner  in  which  the  natives  hunt  the  walrus  in 
these  regions  also  seems  to  be  worthy  of  description. 

Very  early  in  the  spring  the  families  leave  their  winter 
huts  along  the  coast  near  Inglefield  Gulf  to  go  north 
almost  to  Cai)e  Alexander,  where  they  temporarily  live  in 
snow  huts. 

Early  on  some  morning  when  the  weather  is  clear  and 
favorable,  the  men  set  out  for  a  walrus  hunt.  There  are, 
perhaps,  a  dozen  sledges.  Each  is  drawn  by  five  or  six 
dogs  and  carries  two  hunters.  As  a  rule  it  requires  a 
drive  of  two  hours  to  reach  a  good  hunting-place,  which 
must  be  near  the  open  sea.  Sledges  are  left  quite  a  dis- 
tance back  of  the   thin  ice,  where  the  hunt  takes  place. 


nryrixG  383 

The  dogs  are  taken  along  and  i)lay  an  im|)<)rtaMt  part  in 
the  affair.  The  hunters  walk  about  a  half  mile,  or  farther 
if  necessary,  to  ice  which  moves  with  every  step  they 
take.  They  now  ha\e  to  use  great  care  to  avoid  dan- 
gerous i)laces,  and  are  obliged  to  continually  test  the 
strength  of  the  ice  with  their  si)ears.  These  ini|)lemcnts 
usually  ha\e  a  i)ointetl  j)iece  of  narwhal  tooth  lied  to  one 
end  to  i)re\ent  their  slipping  on  the  smooth  surface  (»f  the 
ice,  but  a  few  are  fitted  with  ])ieces  of  iron  which  their 
owners  obtained  by  barter  from  white  men,  by  whom  they 
are  visited  on]\'  at  long  intervals.  Thi.s  spear  is  al)oul 
five  feet  in  length.  It  is  illustrated  in  the  collection  of 
weapons  and  implements,  a  drawing  of  which  will  Ix* 
found  on  a  preceding  page. 

It  is  on  the  thin  wavy  ice  cover  just  described  that  the 
hunt  begins.  Soon  there  seems  to  be  a  singing  and 
cracking  in  the  ice;  then  there  is  a  break  into  many 
pieces,  and  uj)  through  the  opening  thus  formed  a 
bearded  walrus  quietly  and  majestically  lifts  its  large 
head  and  grinning  face.  You  hear  its  deep  breathing, 
that  in  the  twilight  of  the  forenoon  seems  to  resemble  a 
slow  snoring,  and  you  sec  its  breath  like  a  cloud  of  vajxir, 
which  in  the  very  low  tem})erature  that  {prevails  looks  a.s 
white  and  shining  as  the  steam  from  the  valves  of  an 
engine.  A  moment  afterward  the  animal  slowly  and 
quietly  disappears  in  the  deep.  The  cold  waves  close 
over  the  dark  head,  but  even  while  it  is  descending  you 
hear  similar  sounds  from  other  ])laces. 

It  is  usually  while  the  walrus  is  engaged  in  breaking 
the  thin  ice  in  order  to  form  a  breathing-hole  that  the 
Eskimo  rushes  to  the  attack,  though  sometimes,  in  spite  of 
the  cold,  one  is  found  that  has  crcj^  up  on  the  ice  where 
it  was  strons:  enoucfh  to  bear  its  weight. 


384  ACJ^OSS  XORTHERN  GREEXLAND 

As  a  rule  the  native  uses  only  the  spear  when  lie 
attacks  a  walrus.  This  spear  is  made  in  such  a  way  that 
it  can  be  used  as  a  harpoon  if  desired,  and  thus  saves 
the  trouble  of  carrying  two  kinds  of  instruments.  As 
the  skin  of  the  walrus  is  exceedingly  thick  and  tough,  the 
hunter  thrusts  the  spear  into  its  body  with  his  right 
hand  instead  of  throwing  it,  and  in  his  left  hand  holds  a 
coiled  line  that  is  firmly  fastened  to  it.  The  spear  is 
made  in  a  form  that  admits  of  its  being  pulled  from  the 
animal,  while  the  harpoon  could  not  be  drawn  out. 

As  soon  as  the  walrus  is  struck  it  disappears  in  the 
water,  and  the  hunter  must  be  alert  and  active  to  prevent 
his  carrying  away  the  spear  and  line.  He  cannot  rely 
upon  his  mere  physical  strength  in  such  a  contest.  With 
a  strong  blow  he  plants  the  pike  of  the  spear  in  the  ice, 
and  w^inds  the  line  around  it  twice.  If  the  pike  gives 
way  or  the  ice  breaks  where  it  is  driven  in,  the  game  will 
be  lost,  and  with  it  also  the  spear-head  and  line.  It  some- 
times occurs  that  the  feet  or  legs  of  the  hunter  become 
entangled  in  the  line,  and  he  is  drawn  into  the  water. 
Two  hunters  from  this  small  tribe  have  recently  perished 
in  this  way. 

But  suppose  the  ice  and  spear  hold,  and  all  goes  well. 
In  this  case  the  hunter  feels  greatly  relieved  when  the 
line  slackens.  Soon  the  animal  again  comes  to  the  sur- 
face. With  his  knife  the  hunter  quickly  makes  two  holes 
in  the  ice,  draws  the  line  down  one  of  the  holes  and  up 
through  the  other.  Now  the  spear  is  free,  and  every  time 
the  animal  comes  to  the  surface  it  receives  a  sharp  thrust. 
This  is  continued  until  the  walrus  dies  from  wounds  and 
exhaustion. 

In  summer  the  North  Greenland  walrus  are  often  seen 


25 


386  ACROSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

in  companies  of  consickTable  size.     Then  it  is  not  safe  to 
disturb  then-i.     To  attack   tliem  in   an  open  boat  involves 
considerable  danger,  and  to  interfere  with  them  in  a  kaiak 
would  be  equivalent  to  suicide.     Of  these  facts  we  had  a 
practical   illustration   in    August,    1891,  when    Ur.   Cook, 
Gibson,  Verhoeff,  and  myself  were  taking  a  boat  trijD  over 
Whale   Sound.     We  saw  several  herds  of  walrus  sunning 
themselves  on  floating  ice.      Upon  making  an   attack  we 
were,  to   our  great   surj^rise,  immediately  surrounded   by 
something  like  a  hundred  of  these  monsters,  which  evi- 
dently were  bent  upon  our  destruction.     Fortunately  we 
were  all  well  armed  with  rapid-firing  magazine  rifies,  and 
Ekva,  an  Eskimo  who  was  with  us,  had  a  harpoon  and  a 
spear.      But  notwithstanding  our  excellent   equipment  for 
the   battle,  it  was  with   great   difficulty   that   we   escaped 
from  the  enraged  animals.     It  was  a  long  and  hard  fight, 
some  of  the  time  at  such  close  quarters  that  we  used  our 
oars  and  boat-hooks  to  drive  off  those  of   the  herd  that 
were  so  close  as  to  threaten  the  instant  destruction  of  our 
craft.      How  many  of  the  animals  we  had   killed  during 
the  fieht  we  could  not  tell,  as  most  of  the  dead  ones  were 
drawn  under  the  water  by  their  comrades,  who  used  their 
long    tusks  for   this    purpose.     With   the    harpoon    lines 
which   the   native    had   brought   we   secured   two  bodies. 
During  such  a  fight  the  aim  of  the  walrus  is  to  get  his 
tusks  over  the  edge  of  the  boat,  by  which  means  it  would 
easily  be  capsized.     If  he  is  successful  there  is  little  hope 
for  the  occupants  unless  there  is  another  boat  close  by. 
In  earlier    times   many    Norwegian   walrus    hunters    lost 
their  lives  in  this  manner  at  Spitzbergen. 

In  addition  to  the  method  of  hunting  for  seals  which 
has  already  been  described,  which  takes  place  on  the  new 


388  ACJWSS  NORrHKRX  GREENLAND 

ice  in  autumn  and  early  winter,  and  which  is  called  "  mau- 
pok,"  or  waiting  hunt,  there  is  another  method  of  securing 
these  animals  that  is  of  sufificient  importance  to  justify  its 
description.  This  plan  is  followed  in  spring  and  summer, 
when  the  seals  spend  much  of  the  time  lying  upon  the 
surface  of  the  sunlit  ice.  In  April  the  ice,  which  com- 
menced to  form  six  months  before,  has  reached  a  thick- 
ness of  about  five  feet.  It  is  therefore  only  by  great 
perseverance  and  the  gradual  enlargement  of  its  breath- 
ing-holes, that  the  small  fjord  seal  can  make  its  way 
through  the  thick  ice  in  the  spring. 

For  this  kind  of  a  hunt  the  Eskimo  likes  to  start  early 
in  the  morning,  so  that  he  may  have  plenty  of  time  for 
the  work  that  is  before  him.  To  be  sure,  the  sun  at 
the  end  of  April  is  up  day  and  night,  and  at  any  hour 
in  the  twenty-four  you  may  see  seals  upon  the  ice.  But  in 
the  daytime  the  sunshine  is  stronger,  the  air  is  warmer, 
and  the  seals  are  more  sleepy,  and  consequently  are  more 
easily  captured  than  they  are  at  night. 

The  native  has  not  been  long  upon  the  ice,  before  with 
his  keen  vision,  he  detects  some  dark  spots  far  away  on 
the  white  expanse.  He  chooses  one  of  these,  and  soon 
his  swift  dogs  bring  him  to  within  a  half  mile  of  his  game. 
Here  he  halts  lest  the  dogs  should  frighten  the  seals,  caus- 
ing them  to  plunge  into  the  water  and  escape.  After 
leaving  his  team  the  hunter  takes  his  harpoon  and  goes 
on  foot  toward  his  game. 

As  he  approaches  the  seals  he  bends  over  more  and 
more  until  at  last  he  gets  down  upon  the  snow  and  creeps 
on  his  hands  and  knees.  He  wishes  to  have  the  seal 
believe  it  is  not  an  enemy,  but  one  of  his  own  kind  that  is 
approaching.      If  one  of  the  animals  looks  up  the  hunter 


HUNTIXG 


389 


at  once  stojDs  inovino-  iilonir,  scrapes  in  the  snow  with  one- 
hand  or  foot  as  the  seals  often  do,  and  imitates  the  singu- 
lar hissing  sound  which  they  make. 

It  is  very  interesting  to  observe  from  a  j)oint  near  by 
the  seals  and  their  habits  and  ways.  .Some  will  be  .seen 
resting  comfortably  on  their  sides  like  human  beings, 
some  lying  on  their  bellies  with  their  heads  down  on  the 


SIKJOlING    SEALS 


ice  and  apparently  aslcc}),  and  others  lying  on  tlu-ir  backs 
and  scratching  their  round  bodies  with  their  short  fore- 
paws.  Now  and  then  one  will  cjuickly  raise  the  upjxT 
part  of  its  body,  stretch  its  flexible  neck,  and  look  ear- 
nestly around,  scenting  in  all  directions. 

When  the  hunter  has  approached  Cjuite  near  the  scai.s. 
he  suddenly  rises,  takes  a  few  quick  jumps  to  get  as  close 
to  them  as  possible,  and  the  next  moment  his  harpoon 
flies  through  the  air.  One  of  tlic  anima]>  has  been  struck 
in  the  back.  They  all  disappear  in  the  water,  but  the 
wounded   one   is  soon  drawn   up  on   the  ice  and  killed. 


390  .-ICA'OSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

The  hunter  now  calls  his  dogs,  and  they  come  to  him  at 
their  highest  speed.  The  method  of  killing  seals  with 
firearms  hardly  needs  to  be  described. 

Of  the  larger  animals  of  the  sea  that  are  hunted  by  the 
Eskimos  only  the  narwhal  remains  to  be  mentioned.  The 
hunt  is  now  pursued  in  kaiaks,  but  until  about  1870  the 
natives  had  nothing  of  this  description,  and  the  hunt- 
ing was  done  on  floating  ice.  The  Eskimos  of  North 
Greenland,  having  used  them  for  so  short  a  time,  do  not 
make  as  fine  kaiaks  as  their  South  Greenland  brethren,  or 
manage  them  with  anything  like  the  same  degree  of  skill. 
In  fact,  the  kaiaks  in  use  at  Smith  Sound  at  the  time  of 
our  visit  were  both  clumsy  and  dangerous. 

The  hunters  of  narwhal  keep  their  kaiaks  near  together, 
and  as  soon  as  one  of  the  party  has  harpooned  an  animal 
the  remainder  hasten  to  his  assistance.  When  the  ani- 
mal has  been  killed  they  all  join  in  towing  it  home.  The 
game  is  then  divided  according  to  certain  established 
rules.  The  one  who  first  attacks  and  wounds  an  animal, 
be  it  narwhal,  bear,  seal,  walrus,  or  reindeer,  is  always 
regarded  as  its  real  slayer,  and  therefore  receives  the  lion's 
share  of  the  resulting  honors  and  profits. 

The  meat  of  the  narwhal  is  quite  tough,  but  the  natives 
consider  it  both  nourishing  and  palatable.  In  summer  it 
can  be  obtained  in  large  quantities.  The  sinews  along 
the  back  are  dried  and  used  for  thread.  They  are  much 
stronger  than  are  those  which  are  obtained  from  the  rein- 
deer and  whicii  also  serve  the  same  purpose. 

Among  the  land  animals  which  the  natives  of  this 
region  engage  in  hunting,  the  reindeer  is  by  far  the  most 
imiM)rtant.  In  former  years  the  hunt  in  this  region  did 
not  amount  to  much.     The  reindeer  were  numerous  ;   but 


nUXTJNG 


39  • 


as  tlie  bow  and  arrow  formed  tin-  only  weajx)!!  used  for 
this  purpose,  it  was  difficult  to  kill  tlicm.  They  were 
hunted,  especially  in  sjjrint;  and  summer,  principally  for 
sport  and  with  very  little  regard  to  the  value  of  their  flesh 
and   skins.       But    when    the    natives    obtainetl    riHes,   as 


■•;  \  , 


^A,      0^ 


several  of  them  did  from  the  Peary  e\i)editions.  and  be- 
came acquainted  with  their  use,  reindeer  meat  became  a 
common  article  of  diet,  and  the  skin  came  into  ver)'  gen- 
eral use  as  a  material  for  men's  clothing.  In  1S91,  when 
we  first  visited  this  locaHt\-,  the  natives  were  using  the 
bow  and  arrow  almost  exclusively  for  hunting;  but  Ix'fore 
our  departure  in  1894  these  articles  had  been  jjretty  gen- 
erally discarded,  and  it  is  probable  that  in  the  compara- 
tively near  future  they  will  be  found  only  in  the  glass 
cases  of  ethnographical  collections.  Then,  too,  in  a  short 
time  nearly  all  the  reindeer  will  be  destroyed.  I-'or  such 
natural   hunters  as  the   Kskimos  tlie  jileasure  and  e.xcitc- 


392  ACROSS  NORTHEKN^  GREENLAND 

ment  of  the  chase  are  too  great  to  be  restrained  by  any 
considerations  of  future  good.  As  long  as  there  are 
reindeer  to  be  had,  the  natives  will  kill  them  without  any 
regard  to  their  requirements  for  food  or  clothing.  These 
people  are  children  of  the  present,  who  later  on  will  have 
to  pay  dearly  for  the  use  they  are  making  of  some  of  the 
destructive  powers  which  they  have  obtained  from  their 
civilized  visitors. 

How  the  reindeer  is  killed  with  firearms  need  not  be 
explained,  but  it  may  be  of  interest  to  note  that  a  skilful 
and  patient  hunter  can  approach  near  enough  to  shoot  it 
with  a  bow  and  arrow  or  even  to  kill  it  by  throwing  a 
stone. 

Hares  were  formerly  caught  in  large  numbers  in  North 
Greenland  by  snaring,  but  now  they  are  shot  with  rifles. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  ptarmigan  has  never  been 
hunted  by  the  people  of  this  tribe.  As  its  meat  is  excel- 
lent food,  the  immunity  which  it  enjoys  is  probably  due  to 
some  ancient  superstition. 

Of  the  sea-birds,  the  auk  is  the  only  one  that  plays  an 
important  part  in  the  domestic  economy  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  this  region.  They  are  caught  with  a  net  which  is 
attached  to  a  long  pole. 

This  hunt  is  largely  engaged  in  by  families  who  have 
pitched  their  tents  near  the  mountains  where  the  birds 
make  their  nests.  As  these  are  always  along  the  steepest 
and  most  inaccessible  parts  of  the  coast,  the  occupation  is 
both  difficult  and  dangerous,  and  serious  accidents  some- 
times occur. 

A  few  years  ago  a  man  of  middle  age,  and  the  father  of 
a  family,  lost  his  life  while  catching  auks  at  the  south- 
western point    of    Saunders   Island,  called    Akpan    (Auk 


HUNTING 


39.^ 


Ishmd)  by  llic  nalixcs  on  account  of  llic  enormous  num- 
ber of  auks  which  are  found  tlierc.  In  company  witii 
Aningana  (moon),  a  half-witted  fellow,  he  had  climlicd  up 
on  the  cliff,  more  than  2,000  feet  high,  that  extends  the 
full  length  of  the  island.  When  he  had  reached  a  j)oint 
from  which  he  could  see  a  large  flock  of  auks  directly 
below,  he  had  Aningana  lower  him  down  the  perpendic- 
ular wall  of  the  cliff,  in  order  that  he  might  reach  the 
narrow^  ledge  upon  which  the  birds  make  their  nests.  In 
this  work  the  auk  hunters  use  the  same  lines  and  straps 


CATCHING    AUKS    Willi    A    NKT 


as  they  use  in  walrus  hunting.  And,  what  indicates  a 
still  less  degree  of  caution,  they  do  not  hesitate,  no  matter 
how  dangerous  the  precipice,  to  trust  their  whole  weight 
to  a  single  person  on  tojD  of  the  mountain.  On  this  tKca- 
sion  Aningana  had  only  just  commenced  to  lower  his  com- 


394  ACROSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

rade  when  his  strength  gave  out,  he  let  go  of  the  hne,  and 
the  unfortunate  hunter  was  dashed  to  pieces  on  the  rocks 
at  the  foot  of  the  cliff.  The  place  was  pointed  out  to  me 
as  I  passed  on  a  sledge.  When  I  looked  up  to  the  great 
mountain  wall  I  could  hardly  believe  that  men  would  run 
such  fearful  risks  in  order  to  secure  a  few  birds  or  eggs. 

Another  time  it  happened  that  an  Eskimo,  while  catch- 
ing auks,  had  one  of  his  legs  crushed  by  a  falling  rock. 
The  poor  fellow  could  not  faint,  —  he  knew  nothing  of 
any  such  relief,  —  so  he  managed  as  best  he  could  to 
drag  himself  home.  There,  by  advice  of  the  wise  men  and 
women  of  the  tribe,  his  leg  was  amputated.  In  a  short 
time  he  was  perfectly  w^ell ;  and  he,  in  common  with  the 
other  members  of  the  colony,  had  a  great  deal  of  amuse-> 
ment  in  connection  with  his  stumpy  limb. 

When  we  consider  the  kind  of  instruments  used  by  the 
Eskimos  in  amputating  legs  and  arms,  it  is  difificult  to  see 
how  their  work  can  be  successful.  They  have  dirty 
knives,  and  for  bandages  use  strips  of  greasy  seal-skin. 
But  nature  seems  to  give  the  best  of  assistance  on  such 
occasions,  and  with  but  little  help  from  man  heals  wounds 
and  broken  bones  that  with  civilized  jDeople  would  require 
the  most  careful  and  skilful  treatment. 


cii.M' ri-.k  will 


THE    NOK'lll    (ikl.KM.AM)    DOd 


The  qualities  of  hardiness  and  endurance  whicli  are  so 
pronounced  in  the  Eskimo  of  North  (irecnland  are  even 
more  conspicuous  in  his  faithful  doi;.     In  fact,  the  extent 


to  which  this  animal  can  endure  hard.shij).  exiK)sure.  and 
suffering  is  almost  inconceivable. 

The  North  Greenland  dogs  arc  of  different  colors,  but 
the  ones  most  commonly  seen  are  gray,  spotted  while. 
and  black  haired.  Not  infrequently  there  is  a  round  light 
spot    over  each    eye.      Dogs    that    are  entirely  whit.-  are 


396  ACROSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

also  found  in  considerable  numbers.  The  hitter  can 
hardly  be  distinguished  from  the  white  Arctic  wolf  that  is 
chiefly  found  on  the  islands  north  of  the  continent  of 
America.  As  a  rule  the  Eskimo  dog  carries  his  l^ushy 
tail  neatly  curled  up  on  his  back,  but  there  are  some  which 
let  it  hang  down  like  the  wolf.  There  can  hardly  be  a 
doubt  that  the  species  of  dogs  which  the  Eskimo  now  has 
in  subjection  once  lived  in  the  northern  temperate  and 
Arctic  regions  and  was  identical  with  the  present  species 
of  wolves.  It  also  appears  certain  that,  while  its  size  has 
diminished  since  it  was  domesticated,  there  has  not  been 
any  admixture  of  foreign  blood. 

The  close  physical  resemblance  to  the  wolf  which  these 
dogs,  after  a  long  period  of  domestication,  continue  to 
bear  is  doubtless  owing  to  the  fact  that  they  subsist  upon 
the  same  kind  of  food  and  ha\'e  almost  as  wild  a  life  as 
did  their  ancestors.  They  are  fed  upon  raw  meat  and 
blood,  blubber,  walrus-skin,  and  the  entrails  of  all  kinds  of 
animals  that  their  master  kills.  Water  they  have  only  in 
the  short  summer,  when  they  can  help  themselves  from 
the  streams  which  flow  from  among  the  rocks.  In  winter, 
even  after  the  most  fatiguing  work,  they  must  be  content 
to  quench  their  thirst  as  best  they  may  with  the  snow  on 
the  ground. 

The  dogs  are  not  fed  regularly  each  day,  but  on  an 
average  they  get  something  to  eat  every  other  day.  If 
for  a  time  the  colony  happens  to  have  an  abundance  of 
meat,  the  dogs  are  allowed  to  help  themselves.  But  at 
other  periods,  especially  in  winter  and  during  long  sledge 
journeys,  they  are  sometimes  obliged  to  go  without  food 
for  three  or  four  days.  They  do  not  seem  to  suffer  nearly 
as  much    from    these  irregularities   of   feeding  as   would 


Tin-:  xukjn  ckhexlaxi}  dog  397 

naturally  be  cxpcck-d.  .\i)])arL'ntly  they  arc  able  to  cat 
enough  at  a  single  meal  to  last  them  for  several  dav>. 
With  the  exception  of  the  first  few  weeks  after  their  birth. 
they  spend  their  whole  lives  under  the  open  sTvy.  Kvcn 
in  the  severest  cold  or  the  most  violent  storms  this  cx|x>s. 
ure  does  not  often  seem  to  anno)'  or  injure  them. 

Notwithstanding  the  wild  and  irregular  life  which  he 
leads,  the  Eskimo  dog  exhibits  many  of  the  traits  of  the 
more  thoroughly  domesticated  house  dog  of  warmer  cli- 
mates. He  is  affectionate,  obedient,  and  faithful  to  his 
master.  In  return  tlie  Eskimo  cherishes  a  deep  love  for 
his  dogs,  though  he  seldom  manifests  this  feeling  toward 
them  by  caresses  or  kindly 
words.  On  the  contrary, 
a  stranorer  seeing  him  start 
on  a  sledge  journey  would 
get  the  impression  that  lie 
used  the  whip  witli  far  too 
great  a  degree  of  severity, 
though  he  would  soon 
learn  that  the  frequent  use  of  the  lash  is  just  as  necessary 
in  managing  a  team  of  dogs  as  is  the  use  of  reins  and 
whip  in  driving  horses. 

When  the  dogs  pull  a  sledge  they  arc  fastened  to  the 
front  of  it  by  seal-skin  straps  which  diverge  from  a  com- 
mon centre  in  such  a  way  that  the  animals  can  run  side 
by  side.  Although  this  harness  is  exceedingly  simple,  it 
serves  its  purpose  remarkably  well.  Usually  the  fleetest 
of  the  dogs  has  a  little  longer  strap  than  any  of  the  others. 
in  order  that  by  running  just  ahead  of  its  companions  it 
may  encourage  them  to  greater  exertions.  'I  lie  leader  of 
the  team  seems  to  have  a  clear  understanding  of  the 
honor  and  responsibility  of  his  jjosition. 


u«  "  ■    ii  \  K.N  I  ^> 
a,  opening  for  head,  h  and  r,  opening  for  foret«t> 


39S  ACROSS  XOKTHERN  GREENLAND 

The  Kskinio  dog  is  not  at  all  lacking  in  intelligence. 
This  fact  is  clearly  indicated  by  the  skilful  manner  in 
which  it  perpetrates  its  frequent  thefts.  These  stealings 
are  confined  to  eatables;  but  as  this  term  includes  their 
own  harness,  their  master's  tent,  trousers,  kamiks  (boots), 
and  shirts,  the  straps  on  sledges,  and  many  other  things 
niade  of  skin,  they  take  a  pretty  wide  range.  Such  thefts 
would  naturally  be  somewhat  trying  to  the  patience,  but 
the  Eskimos  regard  them  ^\■ith  comparative  indifference. 
I  have  seen  an  Eskimo  wake  up  and  find  the  hair  of  his 
reindeer  coat  all  over  the  outside  of  his  tent  and  most  of 
the  garment  eaten,  but  his  anger  against  the  dog  that  had 
done  the  mischief  did  not  go  any  farther  than  to  say, 
"  Naav  ajotupilalek  sjo  sjo  —  Sinapadujo  —  takko !  "  or 
something  like,  "  Well,  did  you  ever  see  such  a  miserable 
fool !  "  Then  he  would  tie  the  "  miserable  fool  "  to  the 
stone  from  which  it  had  broken  loose  and  say  no  more 
about  the  affair.  In  contrast  with  this  I  have  seen  two 
men  belonging  to  a  highly  civilized  race  wake  up  and 
find  their  fur  gloves  torn  and  half  eaten  on  the  snow  near 
their  hut.  One  chose  a  well-known  method  of  venting 
his  wrath,  and  cursed  until  his  companions  could  almost 
smell  sulphur  in  the  air.  The  other,  who  was  too  good 
to  be  profane,  caught  the  dog  that  he  considered  the 
culprit  and  beat  it  until  the  whip-handle  was  broken.  In 
the  treatment  of  animals  the  men  of  enlightened  nations 
would  often  be  put  to  shame  by  comparison  with  the 
kind-hearted.  Eskimos. 

I  once  suggested  to  a  native  that  he  should  punish  his 
dogs  for  having  stolen,  from  right  before  her  face,  the 
last  piece  of  blubber  that  his  wife  had  in  the  hut.  I  shall 
never  forget    his  answer.     It  was  to  the  effect    that  the 


THE  NOKi'ir  CRi:h:xi..\i\n  nor,  399 

punishment  ought  to  fall  ujjon  himself,  as  he  had  not  had 
food  for  his  dogs  for  sexeral  (la\s.  As  the  dogs  do  not 
steal  when  they  ha\e  enough  to  eat,  it  tloes  seem  hard  to 
punish  them  for  tr)'ing  to  proeure  food  for  themselves 
when  no  one  oFlers   to  suppi)'  them. 

The  dogs  often  eat  their  reins;  and  as  these  arc  very 
tough  to  bite,  they  are  usually  swallowed  in  pieces  of 
considerable  length.  A  member  of  the  expedition  once 
discovered  one  of  the  thirty  dogs  which  we  then  had 
engaged  in  eating  his  bridle.  Thinking  that  lie  might 
save  the  small  piece  that  was  protruding  from  liie  dog's 
mouth,  he  started  to  take  it  away.  (ireat  was  his  sur- 
prise to  obtain  a  strap  nearly  ten  feet  in  length,  which, 
although  it  had  been  chewed  a  good  deal,  was  still  fit  for 


use. 


When  many  hungry  dogs  are  together  it  is  ncccssar)' 
to  keep  a  close  watch  over  them,  even  if  they  are  well  fas- 
tened, in  order  to  avoid  being  shamefully  |)hmdered.  If 
under  such  circumstances  you  lie  down  to  sleep,  there 
seems  to  be  a  sharp  competition,  especially  among  the 
smaller  female  dogs,  to  see  which  one  can  get  l(K)se  first 
and  steal  the  most.  But  there  are  always  some  dogs, 
especially  among  the  males,  that  never  will  condescend  to 
attempt  to  get  loose,  but  which  become  extremely  indig- 
nant when  they  see  their  less  honest  comrades  ajipropriate 
the  master's  property.  They  howl  and  growl  unintermj)t- 
edly  in  a  singularly  short  and  nois\-  way  that  can  never  be 
mistaken  after  it  has  once  Ix'en  heard. 

In  addition  to  the  noise  made  by  the  dogs  that  remain 
tied,  there  is  not  infrequently  a  deafening  racket  in  conse- 
quence of  violent  fights  among  the  thieves  when  one  or 
another  feels  that  he  has  not  been  allowed  a  fair  opix)r- 


400  ACROSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

tunity  to  obtain  his  share  of  the  pKmder.  This  betrays 
their  wrong-doing;  and  if  the  sleepy  owner  will  get  up  and 
attend  to  them  at  once,  he  may  prevent  any  very  serious 
damage.  But  if  the  dogs  are  allowed  to  continue  their 
depredations  they  will  not  be  satisfied  with  trifles.  And 
they  seem  able  to  surmount  nearly  all  obstacles.  The 
stones  of  the  meat  stores  they  upset  with  their  noses  ; 
they  o}Den  boxes  that  have  been  well  nailed  by  attacking 
the  weaker  places  with  their  teeth  ;  steel  w  ires  they  tear 
to  pieces ;  ropes  they  gnaw ;  and  to  almost  e\'ery  kind  of 
package  or  material  they  are  as  destructive  as  is  many 
a  human  robber.  They  only  hesitate  when  they  come  to 
a  barrel  of  hard-tack.  Although  they  devour  boot-soles 
and  the  entrails  of  all  kinds  of  animals  with  great  relish, 
they  do  not  stoop  so  low  as  to  attempt  to  eat  one  of  the 
hard  and  dry  things  that  are  called  shipsbrcad  and  are 
eaten  by  men. 

In  the  civilized  world  the  prolonged  howling  of  a  dog 
in  W'hat  should  be  the  still  hours  of  the  night  is  regarded 
as  a  certain  indication  that  he  is  troubled  or  distressed. 
In  North  Greenland  the  case  is  altogether  different.  At 
our  last  winter  quarters,  where  we  often  had  about  one 
hundred  dogs  at  a  time,  w^e  had  the  plainest  proof  that 
their  howls  in  the  night  were  caused  by  joy,  and  that  in 
purpose,  at  least,  they  took  the  place  of  song  in  human 
beings.  They  particularly  excelled  as  chorus  singers;  and 
when  they  w^ere  unusually  happy,  as  when  they  had  fin- 
ished an  excellent  meal  or  had  enjoyed  a  good  night's 
rest,  they  ahvays  treated  us  to  a  concert. 

To  make  the  whole  chorus  take  jDart  in  the  concert  it 
was  only  necessary  that  a  single  one  of  the  number  sing  a 
long   "O — au  —  o  —  au — o  —  au  —  o  —  au!"       But    it 


'    vim 


*-;An, 


26 


402  ACROSS  NOh'TI/F.RX  G/^EEXLAND 

was  imjicrativc  thai  lliis  be  clone  by  one  of  the  older  and 
more  dignified  members  of  tlie  party.  If  one  of  the 
younger  and  less  prominent  ones  attempted  to  start  the 
performance,  it  was  generall\'  an  utter  failure.  He  emitted 
a  few  faint  howls,  but  the  others  did  not  respond,  and  with 
a  very  foolish  look  upon  his  face  he  ceased  his  efforts  to 
provide  a  musical  entertainment. 

To  hear  a  chorus  of  a  half  hundred  dogs  with  well- 
trained  voices  makes  a  powerful  impression  even  upon 
people  who  have  no  ear  iov  music.  But  to  persons  of 
musical  ability  and  cultivated  taste  the  performance  seems 
so  ridiculous  that  they  can  hardly  refrain  from  laughing 
in  the  solemn  face  of  the  leader.  The  entertainment  is 
certainly  a  fine  as  well  as  an  original  "opera  comicjue." 

It  is  quite  amusing  to  see  the  Eskimo  feed  his  dogs. 
He  cuts  the  meat  in  pieces  as  large  as  his  fist,  piles  them 
on  a  board,  stands  directly  in  front  of  the  place  where  the 
animals  are  tied,  and  when  they  have  all  become  quiet, 
with  their  eyes  fixed  upon  the  meat,  he  can  begin  the 
feeding.  This  is  the  t)nly  way  in  which  he  is  able  to  con- 
trol them  so  that  the  weaker  as  well  as  the  stronger  ones 
can  get  their  share.  Piece  after  piece  of  the  meat  is 
thrown  by  the  master  and  dexterously  caught  by  the  dogs 
until  all  is  gone.  If  all  the  dogs  in  the  team  are  old 
acquaintances,  and  in  tlie  habit  of  lacing  fed  together,  the 
feeding-time  is  likely  to  pass  without  disturbance  ;  but  if 
there  are  any  strangers  among  them  the  whole  meal  may 
be  a  violent  and  continuous  conflict. 

The  Eskimo  dog  is  naturally  very  much  inclined  to 
fight.  Good  friends  actually  fight  for  pleasure.  They 
sportively  snaj)  a  few  tufts  of  hair  from  each  other's  skin, 
liowl  and  bark  for  a  while,  and   the  whole  thing  is  over. 


THE   XOK'IH   CRIJ.M AXD   DOG  4. 

l')iil  il  is  very  cliflciviU  whrii  strani^c  do^  teams  arc  care- 
lessly allowed  to  eoiiie  within  reach  of  each  other.  Then 
the  fur  will  not  only  llyj)ut  the  snow  between  the  fighters 
will  soon  be  crimson  with  llu-ir  blood. 

Another  characteristic  ot  this  rate  of  animals  Is  that 
each  team  of  doers  has  its  own  kinti.  1  le  may  not  be  the 
strongest,  but  he  is  the  most  fearless  and  skilful  fighter 
among  them,  and  not  one  of  them  dares  to  ojjpose  his 
tyrannical  rule.  When  two  strange  lots  of  these  dogs  arc 
thrown  together  a  very  imi)()rtant  fight  will  immediately 
be  commenced  by  the  kings  of  the  two  teams.  At  the 
same  time  there  will  be  a  general  battle  between  the 
other  dogs  of  the  teams  to  settle  their  relative  rank  for 
the  future.  When  these  lights  ha\e  been  finished,  and 
not  till  then,  the  equilibrium  of  the  little  society  is  fully 
established.  But  the  vanquished  king  is  utterly  broken 
in  spirit.  His  tail,  formerly  carried  i)roudly  curled  on  his 
back,  now  hangs  limp  and  drooj^ing,  and  the  head  that 
was  so  erect  is  now  held  down,  while  the  half-closed  eyes 
follow  every  movement  of  the  victor,  who  ixjmjxiu.siy 
stalks  around  his  subjects,  and  seems  almost  bursting 
with  j)ride. 

There  is  a  peculiar  epidemic  disease  that  ever)'  year 
destroys  a  large  number  of  these  dogs,  and  which  the 
natives  say  has  sometimes  been  so  severe  as  to  threaten 
the  extinction  of  the  breed.  When  attacked  by  this  dis- 
ease the  dog  loses  its  appetite,  becomes  cross,  sometimes 
will  even  bite  its  own  master,  and  at  length  develops  all 
the  symptoms  of  madness  in  its  advanced  stage.  No  one 
certainly  knows  the  cause  of  the  disease,  but  as  it  occurs 
only  in  the  severest  weather  and  during  the  long  night  of 
the   year,  it   is  probable   that  cold  and   darkness  are   the 


404  ACROSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

principal  factors  in  its  production.  The  foxes  also  in  this 
region  are  said  to  be  subject  to  this  disease. 

It  was  only  natural  that  the  appearance  of  the  disease, 
of  which  there  were  several  cases  among  the  dogs  at  Red- 
cliffe  House,  caused  the  members  of  the  expedition  a 
great  deal  of  anxiety.  Its  close  resemblance  to  hydro- 
phobia was  a  sufficient  cause  for  alarm ;  but  we  were 
greatly  relieved  to  find,  and  to  have  our  observations  con- 
firmed by  the  natives,  that  the  bite  of  an  affected  animal 
was  not  dangerous  to  man. 

As  the  success  of  future  polar  expeditions  may  very 
largely  depend  upon  the  use  of  Eskimo  dogs,  it  seems  to 
be  of  great  importance  to  prevent  an  outbreak  of  this  dis- 
ease. I  am  convinced  that  this  can  be  done  by  having 
electric  lights  in  winter,  furnishino^  the  doffs  a  moderate 
degree  of  protection  during  storms  and  periods  of  severe 
cold,  serving  their  meat  warm  instead  of  frozen,  and  sup- 
plying them  with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  water  to  drink. 

In  North  Greenland  the  dogs  often  mate  for  life.  If 
young  are  expected  in  the  cold  season,  a  bed  is  prepared 
on  one  of  the  side  benches  in  the  hut,  near  the  lamps, 
and  here  the  mother  remains  with  her  pups  until  the 
winter  is  over,  though  to  quench  her  thirst  she  is  often 
obliged  to  go  out  in  the  cold  and  darkness  to  lick  the 
snow.  Hardly  anywhere  are  pups  more  kindly  treated  or 
more  dearly  loved  than  they  are  in  the  hut  of  the  poor 
Eskimo.  The  father  of  the  household  plays  with  them 
and  names  them,  the  mother  sews  nice  white  collars  of 
bear-skin  for  all  the  dark -haired  ones,  while  the  children 
caress  and  pet  them  all  day  long. 

In  the  spring  the  pups  may  be  large  enough  for  the 
owner   to  commence    their   training.     Some   fine  day  he 


TJIE   NORTH    (iRERNLAXn   DOG  405 

furnishes  each  with  a  small  harness  and.  with  sonic  of  the 
older  animals,  takes  one  or  two  at  a  time  for  a  short 
drive.  It  does  not  require  much  time  for  them  to  Ixrconu- 
familiar  with  the  meanino-  of  the  whij)  and  of  the  diffrr- 
ent  calls,  and  when  this  stage  is  reached  their  education 
is  completed. 


m-^- 


'-•W'tl  1  ID**. 


\\,^i 


A    GKUUf   UK    PUPS 


KSKIMU    liOY 


CHAPTER   XXIV 


HOME    LIKE,    HABITS    AND    CHARACTER 


To  civilized  people  the  domestic  life  of  the  Eskimos,  or 
Innuits,  by  botli  of  which  terms  the  natives  at  Smith 
Sound  are  designated,  seems  very  peculiar. 

The  winters  are  spent  in  low,  small  huts.  These  are 
built  of  stones  and  moss,  and  are  always  near  the  ocean. 
The  usual  size  of  a  hut  is  about  thirteen  feet  in  length 
and  breadth.  The  roof  is  so  low  that  a  man  of  ordinary 
size  cannot  stand  erect  under  it.  Sometimes  huts  are 
built  so  close  to  each  other  that  they  are  converted  into 
one  by  simply  cutting  through  the  separating  wall. 

The  inside  of  a  hut  is  reached  through  a  long  and  nar- 
row entry,  also  built  of  stone,  which  is  so  low  that  one  is 
obliged  to  creep  when  he  goes  in  or  out.  A  small  square 
opening  in  the  end  wall  leads  up  to  the  living-room.  Di- 
rectly over  the  entry  is  a  square  window,  closed  with  a 
skin,  and  often  almost  covered  with  snow.  In  its  centre 
there  is  an  opening  a  few  inches  in  diameter,  through 
which    the    hot    and  almost    suffocatins:    air    of    the    hut 


ITO^n':  /.//j:,  ii.muts  axd  characjek 


407 


escapes  as  a  ray  of  .steam,  and  which  also  serves  as  a 
peep-hole  when  the  inmates  hear  noises  outside. 

The  family  slcej)  in  the  back  j)art  of  the  hut  on  a 
platform,  about  twenty  inches  hi^^h,  which  is  made  of 
stones  and  covered  with  bear  or  reindeer  skins.  Benches 
of  the  same  height  are  also  built  along  the  sides  of  the 
hut.  Upon  one  of  these  stands  a  b(nvl-s]iaj)ed  lamp  of 
stone.  Directly  over  it  is  an  oblong  cooking-vessel,  made 
of  the  same  material,  which  is  hung  by  strings  from  the 
roof. 

The  flame  of  the  lamp  is  sustained  by  blubber  and  fine 


«^».*. 


<*» 


» 


A.N    LbKlMU    liuUal-    l.N    Ul.MtK 


peat,  and  serves  to  both  light  and  warm  the  small  r(K)m. 
If  the  light  goes  out  another  is  started  by  means  of 
sparks  from  flint  or  ironstone. 

In  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  their  winter  huts 
the  natives  build  stone  chambers,  about  half  in  and  half 
above    the    crround.     Here    the    house-mother  keeps  her 


4o8  ACROSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

stores  of  skins  and  otlicr  valuable  materials,  and  the 
hunter  places  his  winter  furs.  The  stores  of  meat  are  a 
little  farther  from  the  hut  and  are  covered  with  a  pile  of 
stones. 

In  the  spring,  when  the  days  lengthen  and  the  rays  of 
the  sun  begin  to  spread  a  little  warmth  over  the  landscape, 
the  Eskimo  leaves  his  close  and  dark  winter  abode,  packs 
the  seal-skin  tent  of  the  family  on  his  sledge,  and  goes  to 
some  place  not  far  distant  that  is  free  from  snow  and 
appears  to  be  a  desirable  location  for  a  summer  residence. 
Here  he  pitches  the  tent,  and  the  whole  family  enjoy  the 
freer  life  of  the  new  home. 

As  a  rule,  before  leaxing  tlieir  winter  huts  the  Eskimos 
remove  the  roofs  so  tliat  the  interiors  may  be  thoroughly 
ventilated.  They  live  in  tents  from  the  end  of  April  till 
September.  Then  tliey  return  to  huts ;  but  as  they  are 
fond  of  change,  they  sometimes  select  a  different  place 
from  the  one  in  which  the  last  winter  was  passed. 

The  mother  of  the  household  attends  to  the  lamp  both 
in  the  hut  and  the  tent.  She  is  careful  to  renew  the 
blubber  beside  it  when  the  supply  already  there  is  melted, 
and  to  so  adjust  the  flame  that  there  will  be  as  little 
smoke  as  possible.  She  also  melts  the  snow  that  is  used 
for  various  purposes,  and  does  the  cooking  for  the  family. 

That  the  domestic  utensils  are  not  kept  in  a  condition 
tliat  would  be  considered  decent  by  civilized  people  is 
not  surprising  when  we  remember  that  the  Eskimos 
really  have  no  sense  of  cleanliness.  The  large  stone  pot, 
the  flat  dishes,  the  drinking-cups,  and  the  boards  upon 
which  the  food  is  kept  are  covered  with  a  thick  layer  of 
dirt,  grease,  and  dried  blood,  the  odor  of  which  will,  until 
he  has  become  accustomed  to  it,  deprive  a  white  man  of 


^o^rE  j.iii:,  n.uirrs  A.\n  chanacti-.r 


409 


his  appetite.  But  after  a  Idii--  day's  walk  over  the  roujjii 
snow-fields,  in  a  low  temperature,  when  the  nui»>cles  arc 
weary,  and  the  whole  system  cries  out  for  focxl  and  water, 
the  most  dainty  son  of  civilization  will  be  glad  to  eat  of 
the  plain  and  poorly  jirepared  food  and  drink  from  the 
greasy  cups  of  tlie  hosjjitable  ICskimos. 

The    dishes  which    the    J^skimo    housewife  offers   her 


STONK    HUTS   UR    H.l.Ulib —  lAkL.\    A 


family  and  her  guests  at  the  different  seasons  (»f  the  year 
are  neither  numerous  nor  complicated.  Meat  of  walrus. 
seal,  narwhal,  bear,  reindeer,  hares,  and  auks,  with  differ- 
ent kinds  of  blood,  forms  the  foundation  of  all  her  C(x»k- 
ing.  Spices,  salt,  or  other  condiments  are  entirely  un- 
known.    Considerable    blubber  is  eaten,  but    the   larger 


4IO  ACROSS  NOR'J'HERN  GREENLAND 

part  of  it  is  used  for  furnisliing  liglit  and  heat.  As  a 
rule,  the  meat  is  cooked,  but  it  is  sometimes  eaten  raw, 
especially  when  it  is  frozen.  When  it  has  been  ke])t  long- 
enough  to  reach  a  condition  in  which  most  civiHzed 
people  would  consider  it  spoiled,  it  is  esteemed  a  great 
delicacy.  The  liver  of  several  animals  and  certain  en- 
trails of  the  seal  are  ]:)ri7X'd  for  food,  as  is  also  the  niaterial 
found  in  tlie  stomach  of  the  reindeer.  The  latter  consists 
of  vegetable  matter,  but  it  is  so  rarely  oljtained  that  it  can 
almost  be  said  that  meat  is  the  exclusive  article  of  diet  of 
the  North  Greenland  Eskimos. 

Dog  meat  is  sometimes  eaten,  but  only  under  excep- 
tional circumstances.  Nothing  short  of  the  greatest  ne- 
cessity will  induce  a  native  to  kill  one  of  his  dogs.  Be- 
sides, the  dogs  are  generally  very  lean  and  their  meat  is 
not  palatable.  The  people  consider  the  flesh  of  pups  a 
good  article  of  food,  and  I  think  they  are  ca})able  judges 
in  this  matter.  Once  when  I  was  at  the  Cape  York 
colony,  and  nearly  starved,  I  was  gix'en  some  frozen  raw 
meat  of  a  pup  that  tasted  \'ery  well.  It  somewhat  resem- 
bled the  meat  t)f  a  bear.  This  might  not  be  the  general 
opinion  of  the  quality  of  this  kind  of  food,  ])ut  it  is  stated 
merely  as  my  personal  impression. 

The  natives  at  Smith  Sound  use  nothing  but  water  for 
drinking  purposes.  When  we  first  offered  them  tea  and 
coffee  many  of  them  refused,  but  after  a  time  they  began 
to  like  these  drinks.  They  also  soon  learned  to  like  hard- 
tack, which,  considering  the  fact  that  they  are,  in  the  true 
sense  of  the  word, "  a  breadless  people,"  is  not  very  surpris- 
ing. (Jf  spirits  and  tobacco  they  were  entirely  ignorant, 
and  we  were  careful  not  to  enlighten  them.  It  is  remark- 
able that  they   do  not    use,  or  even    know  of  any  kind  of 


HOME  L/EE,  JLiniTS  AXD  CJlAKACTIiK  4,. 
Stimulant.  In  this  respect  tlic-y  arc  yd  in  the  original 
"  state  of  innocence  "  which  no  ether  people  in  the  world 
appear  to  have  preserved. 

The  meals  are  eaten   in  a  very  plain  and  c-asy  manner. 


LViS:\.-, 


H 


CAI'E    YUKK,    SMI  1  II 


A  IDs    I'V     rill 


Tlic  housewife  places  the  pieces  of  boiled  meat  in  a  vessel, 
from  which  the  members  of  the  family,  all  of  whom  are 
very  scantily  clothed,  take  them  with  their  hands  when 
they  want  them.  In  eating,  a  large  j^iece  of  meat  is  taken 
to  the  mouth  with  the  left  hand  and  cut  off  close  to  the 
lips  witli  a  sliarj)  knife  tliat  is  held  in  the  right  hand. 

As  with  civilized  i^eoj^le,  marriages  among  tlie  natives 
of  this  reofion  are  contracted  for  life.  As  a  rule  the  rela- 
tion  of  husband  and  wife  continues  as  long  as  they  both 


412  ACROSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

live,  tlKuigli  separations  sometimies  occur.  A  few  years 
ago  Agna  left  her  husband,  Kaochu,  saying  that  he  was 
too  old,  and  went  to  live  with  Kala,  a  middle-aged  wid- 
ower. In  excuse  for  this  fault  of  the  in  many  respects 
estimable  woman,  it  can  only  be  said  that  although  her 
husband  was  not  so  very  old,  he  really  did  present  a 
superannuated  appearance.  His  walk  was  unsteady,  one 
lea:  was  crooked  from  rheumatism,  his  face  was  full  of 
dirty  wrinkles,  his  nose  and  cheeks  had  taken  on  a  bluish 
tint  from  exposure  to  wind  and  weather,  his  eyes  were 
edsed  with  a  red  border,  and  his  hair  —  his  hair  —  well, 
let  us  not  attempt  to  carry  the  description  any  farther. 
And  yet  this  little  lame  man  is  full  of  fun,  and  gives  his 
neighbors  the  pleasure  of  many  a  laugh.  His  friends, 
and  a  daughter  who  keeps  house  for  him,  see  that  he  does 
not  suffer  from  want. 

Polygamy  does  not  exist  among  these  people,  possibly 
because  the  conditions  are  unfavorable,  but  husbands  and 
wives  are  not  always  faithful  to  each  other,  and  a  want  of 
fidelity  in  this  respect  is  not  regarded  as  at  all  a  serious 
matter.     The  unmarried  young  people  are  strictly  chaste. 

The  position  of  the  married  woman  is  as  dignified  and 
respected  as  is  that  of  the  man,  though  in  any  important 
disagreement  she  is  obliged  to  submit  to  the  will  of  her 
husband. 

The  relations  between  parents  and  children  are  as 
close  and  as  affectionate  as  they  are  in  any  part  of  the 
world.  When  small,  the  children  are  rather  nice  looking, 
but  as  they  grow  up  their  features  become  much  coarser 
and  have  a  less  attractive  appearance.  At  birth  their 
parents  give  them  names,  usually  only  one,  but  some- 
times two,  for  each  cliild.     These  names  are  commonly 


no  MI',  r  ii'r.,  ir.\niTs  A\n  ciiaricter 

tlie  terms  used  to  fksip;n.itc  animals  or  other  familiar  ob- 
jects. The  cliildren  are  rarely  |)unished,  and  a**  they  arc 
thoroughly  good-natured  punishment  is  seldom  needed. 
The  youngsters  often  a])])ear  very  sweet  and  cunning,  as, 
for  instance,  when  playing  in  the  open  air  a  gamr  (<•! 
responding  to  the  "  tag  "  of   civilized  lanfls,  or  when  < 


INTKKIdK    111-     111    1 


ing  on  the  little  sleighs  which  their  kind  fathers  have 
made  for  them.  Except  in  the  mildest  way  they  never 
quarrel  or  fight,  and  they  never  call  each  other  names  or 
use  abusive  language  in  any  way.  In  short,  they  are  a 
lot  of  dirty  angels. 

Marriages  take  place  at  a  very  early  age.  The  man 
wishes  to  marry  as  soon  as  b.e  thinks  he  can  support  a 
wife,  usually  when  from  sixteen  to  twenty  years  old.  and 
the  girls  are  considered  marriageable  when  they  reach 
the  age  of  fourteen  years.  Love  seems  to  be  the  foun- 
dation for  all  marriages.  Kven  if  it  were  preferrcxl.  mar- 
ryino-  for  monev  or  <.tluT  worldly  goods  would  not  be 
,K)ssible.      The   engagement  lasts  c,uite  a  long  time,  but 


414  .-ICA'OSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

there  are  no  ceremonies  wliatevcr  connected  witli  the 
wedding.  Tlie  number  of  children  in  a  family  is  usually 
three  t)r  four.  Somelimo,  l)ul  not  often,  it  reaches  five  or 
even  six. 

When  a  visitini;-  Eskimo  arrives  from  some  distant 
colony  he  does  not  say  "Good  day"  or  "  I  low  do  you 
do,"  and  the  men  and  women  upon  whom  he  is  calling  do 
not  welcome  liim  with  words.  A  bashful  smile  is  all  that 
he  offers,  and  the  same  greeting  is  returned.  Soon  one 
of  the  older  Eskimos,  in  a  low  voice,  makes  some  remark 
or  asks  some  question,  and  thus  a  conversation  will  be 
slowly  started.  When  the  visitor  is  leaving,  he  does  not 
say  "  Good-by,"  but  harnesses  his  dogs  to  the  sledge 
and  goes  away  without  saying  a  word  about  it.  In  their 
whole  behavior  these  people  show  a  most  absolute  inde- 
pendence which  will  astonish  any  civilized  person  who 
comes  in  contact  with  them. 

Before  starting  on  a  long  journey  the  natives  drink  as 
much  water  as  possible.  This  is  done  as  a  i^rccaution 
against  thirst,  which  in  a  fatiguing  journey  in  the  ex- 
tremely dry  Arctic  air  is  a  fearful  torture. 

During  the  winter  night,  which  lasts  nearly  four 
months,  there  is  never  a  lack  of  sociabilitv.  Hiis  tends 
to  make  the  time  pass  more  quickly  for  the  people  than 
it  otherwise  would  do.  The  younger  families,  especially, 
travel  around  a  great  deal,  visiting  their  parents,  aunts, 
uncles,  and  other  relalixes  and  friends.  In  many  cases 
they  spend  more  time  in  this  wa}-  than  the\'  do  at  home. 
Even  if  for  a  short  time  they  are  at  home,  the\'  have 
usually  made  a  previous  arrangement  to  entertain  some 
guests. 

In  December  and   Januar)-  the    darkness  is  so  intense 


^o^[F.  r./FF.,  ir.iniTs  ,txn  ( u.iKAcrKK 

that  travcllini;  can  he  done  only  hy  moonli^hl.  When 
llic  moon  apjjcars,  once  in  four  weeks,  it  remains  con- 
stantly visihle  for  ahout  a  week,  and  j^ives  a  splendid 
lii^ht  for  the  t ravel -lovinL;-  Innuils. 

There  is  happiness  shininL;  on  the  broad  faces  of  the 
natives  when  in  the  month  of  i'ehruary  tiie  sun.  after 
the  depressing  darkness  of  the  winter,  begins  to  give  to 
the  clouds  nearest  the  horizon  a  golden  coloring.  And 
when  the  sun  itself  for  the  first  time  comes  into  view  the 
joy  is  unbounded.  Old  and  young,  men,  women,  and 
children,  gather  on  the  rocks  behind  the  Iiuls  of  the 
colony,  where  the  \  iew  is  unol)strueted,  and  with  joyful 
shouts  greet  the  returning  king  of  day. 

The  Eskimos  at  Smith  Sound  have  no  definite  melh<Kl 
of  computing  time  (Tc  of  stating  the  exact  date  at  which 
any  given  event  occurred.  If  they  want  to  indicate  a  cer- 
tain hour  of  the  day,  they  state  the  ])osition  of  the  sun 
or  the  stars  in  the  sky  at  this  time.  They  have  names 
for  our  four  seasons  and  terms  to  designate  the  to  them 
important  periods  of  the  year,  as  "  the  days  that  we  move 
into  tents,"  "the  days  when  the  sun  leaves  us."  and  various 
other  times  and  events. 

It  would  naturally  be  expected  that  a  iK'oi)Ie  situated 
like  the  F.skimos,  compelled  to  fight  a  hard  battle  for  a 
mere  existence,  and  who  are  in  almost  constant  danger  of 
finding  their  food  sujDplies  exhausted,  and  with  no  certain 
means  of  replenishing  them,  would  be  very  serious  and 
unhappy.  We  w^ould  suppose  that  they  would  regard  life 
as  an  evil  which  for  some  reason  had  been  forced  U|K>n 
them,  and  from  which  death  would  bring  them  a  welcome 
relief.  But  with  regard  to  the  Iiskimos  such  an  opinion 
would  be  wholly  incorrect.     To  one  who  lives  with  tliem 


4i6  AC/^OSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

until  lie  is  well  acciuainted  with  their  ways  and  under- 
stands their  language,  their  joyful  laughter,  their  amusing 
witticisms,  their  frequent  jokes,  and,  in  fact,  their  whole 
conduct,  will  indicate  beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  that 
these  people  are  unusually  well  satisfied  with  their  lot  in 
life. 

Upon  looking  more  closely  at  the  matter,  this  satis- 
faction with  what  seem  to  be  very  hard  conditions  of 
existence  will  not  be  as  difiFicult  to  explain  as  it  at  first 
glance  appears.  In  the  first  place  they  enjoy  excellent 
health.  As  they  advance  in  years  they  suffer  somewhat 
from  rheumatism,  but  they  seldom  have  any  other  severe 
illness.  Snow-blindness,  a  slight  inflammation  of  the  eyes 
caused  bv  the  brio^ht  reflection  of  the  sun  on  the  snow, 
frequently  attacks  the  men  in  the  spring,  but  it  does  not 
often  prove  serious  in  its  results.  Another  and  a  very 
important  reason  for  their  contentment  is  found  in  the 
fact  that  this  small  Eskimo  society  is  founded  upon  the 
principle  of  equal  rights  and  privileges  for  all  of  its  mem- 
bers. Money  is  entirely  unknown.  Love  to  one's  neigh- 
bor is  a  fundamental  law.  /\  society  in  which  liberty, 
equality,  and  fraternity  are  not,  as  in  many  civilized  lands, 
merely  a  distant  and  an  almost  hopeless  ideal,  but  are  the 
actual  rule  of  life  and  conduct,  can  hardly  fail  to  secure  a 
large  share  of  happiness  and  contentment. 

If  one  of  the  hunters  is  more  skilful  or  has  better  suc- 
cess than  his  companions,  so  that  during  the  summer  he 
obtains  a  larger  quantity  of  meat  than  will  be  needed  by 
himself  and  his  family  in  the  winter  he  does  not  conceal 
the  surplus,  or  attempt  to  withhold  it  from  the  others. 
On  the  contrary,  with  pleasure  and  ])ride  he  will  distribute 
it  among  those  whose  eyes  are  not  as  keen  or  whose  arms 


HOME   LJJ-K,    J/.Ui/TS  A\D   CHARACTER  417 

are  not  as  stron*;  as  liis  own,  or  who  were  not  as  fortunate 
in  finding  good  luiiUing-grounds. 

If  the  question  were  raised  wliether  the  expert  hunters. 
who  secure  an  adequate  quantity  of  provisions  for  the 
winter  in  a  conijxaratively  brief  time,  will  not  be  more 
inclined  to  spend  a  ])art  of  the  summer  in  idleness  than  to 
continue  tlie  hunt  in  the  interest  of  others,  the  answer 
would  be  that  as  long  as  the  ambition  of  these  men  con- 
tinues as  great  as  it  is  at  present,  there  is  no  clanger  of 
their  relaxing  their  efforts,  even  if  their  natural  kindness 
of  heart  is  not  taken  into  the  account. 

It  is  a  rule  among  this  peoj)le  that  any  game  which  a 
hunter  does  not  take  home,  but  leaves  at  some  convenient 
point,  covered  with  stones  for  jDossible  future  use,  can  be 
taken  by  others,  if  needed,  with  perfect  right,  and  without 
asking  permission  of  any  one.  It  often  hajjjKMis  that 
meat  stored  in  this  way  by  one  man  is  used  by  others. 
In  fact,  the  tribe  forms  a  single  family,  and  each  member, 
without  exception,  consecrates  the  work  of  his  life  to  the 
common  good.  They  have  the  joys  of  life,  as  well  as  the 
hardships  and  sufferings,  in  common.  It  is  seldom  that 
this  tribe  are  visited  by  a  real  famine;  and  though  some 
authors  have  represented  them  as  imjirovident.  my  obser- 
vation convinced  me  that  they  endeavor  to  enter  the  win- 
ter with  a  full  stock  of  ])rovisions,  and  that  they  usually 
succeed  in  obtaining  a  libera?  sujiply. 

The  members  of  this  tribe  manifest  a  strong  affection 
for  each  other.  This,  perhaps,  is  not  remarkable  when  it 
is  remembered  that  the  romjxiny  is  comparatively  small. 
and  having  for  a  long  period  been  isolated  from  all  other 
tribes,  the  members  arc  related  to  each  other  by  blood  as 
well  as  by  the  common  ties  of  humanity.  As  an  instance 
27 


4iS  ACROSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

of  the  general  concern  for  the  welfare  of  the  individual  I 
well  remember  how  anxious  the  members  of  the  colony 
appeared  at  a  time  when  one  of  the  younger  hunters 
remained  away  a  day  longer  than  was  his  usual  custom. 

It  is  extremely  seldom  that  Eskimos  quarrel,  and  when 
a  disagreement  occurs  it  is  a  very  tame  affair.  The  par- 
ties  do  not  talk  loudly  or  call  each  other  names,  but  sim- 
ply separate.  They  are  a  quiet  and  gentle  people,  and 
very  much  dislike  anything  in  the  way  of  disturbance  or 
discord. 

Judging  from  the  best  information  we  could  obtain,  it 
seems  probable  that  the  natural  period  of  life  is  about 
sixty  years.  The  debility  incident  to  old  age  is  then  fully 
developed,  and  in  many  cases  is  accompanied  by  an  in- 
flammation of  the  lungs  which  soon  proves  fatal. 

The  communistic  form  of  their  society  renders  stealing 
from  each  other  impossible.  And  it  must  be  said  of  them 
that  they  are  really  an  honest  people.  When  we  first 
went  among  them  they  would  often  take  articles  from 
the  members  of  the  expedition ;  but  as  they  had  no  know- 
ledge of  the  principle  of  private  ownership  of  property, 
they  could  not  justly  be  blamed  for  doing  so.  When 
they  learned  that  we  disapproved  of  their  course  we 
could  always  rely  upon  their  honesty.  Still,  it  was  plain 
to  see  that  they  were  intelligent  enough  to  perceive  the 
injustice  of  our  holding  them  to  a  strict  account  while  we 
were  taking  possession  of  their  land  without  their  permis- 
sion and  without  compensation,  and  killing  the  reindeer 
which  would  have  been  useful  to  them  for  food. 

The  Eskimos  rarely  told  us  an  untruth.  When  they 
did  so  it  usually  appeared  to  be  in  order  to  fool  the  white 
people  who  thought  themselves  so  wise,  rather  than  from 


HOME  LIFE,   HABITS  AND   CHARACTER         4,9 

cither  malice  or  habit.  They  seldom  or  never  lie  to  each 
other,  but  it  is  very  liard  for  them  to  tell  a  truth  that  they 
know  will  be  disagreeable,  and  they  emi)loy  all  kinds  of 
subterfuges  to  avoid  such  an  unpleasant  task. 

Upon  the  whole,  the  morals  of  this  interesting  tribe- 
must  be  regarded  as  aj^proaching  the  standard  of  Chris- 
tianity.  Init  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  while  the  jK-oplc 
of  Christian  nations  are  subjected  to  many  and  strong 
temptations  to  violate  the  principles  of  religion,  the  Eski- 
mos live  under  much  simpler  conditions,  and  can  far  more 
easily  avoid  transgression.  For  many  of  the  evils  which 
stain  civilized  society  these  people  have  neither  motive 
nor  opportunity;  and  while  in  various  ways  they  earnestly 
endeavor  to  follow  the  right,  there  are  other  directions  in 
which  their  virtues  are  negati\e  rather  than  positive. 

The  QTood  humor  of  the  Eskimos  is  inexhaustible. 
When  a  large  company  is  gathered,  as  occurred  several 
times  at  the  house  of  the  Peary  expedition,  their  mirth  is 
unbounded.  It  would  be  utterly  impossible  to  describe 
the  "  circus  "  \\e  had  when  a  party  of  Eskimos  came  to  the 
house,  and  for  the  first  time  in  their  lives  .saw  a  mule. 
Their  mirth  was  exuberant,  but  was  far  from  childish,  and 
many  and  witty  were  their  remarks  about  the  long  ears 
and  the  hairless  tail  of  the  animal  before  them. 

One  of  the  leading  wits  of  the  tribe  was  little  fat  Ekva. 
He  would  sit  for  hours  in  the  centre  of  a  little  circle  and 
keep  the  audience  laughing  at  his  talk  and  jokes.  But  he 
did  not  forget  his  family.  He  was  always  careful  to  put 
into  a  dirty  seal-skin  bag  part  of  the  hard-tack  that  was 
given  him  and  carry  it  to  hi>  little  two  years'  old  child 
Annedor  when  he  went  home. 

In  the  Eskimo  tribe  at  Smith  Sound  there  arc  no  chiefs 


42 o  ACROSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

or  persons  who  in  any  way  bear  rule  over  others.  Each 
member  is  his  own  master,  and  one  never  interferes  with 
the  affairs  of  another.  The  older  men  who  have  been  or 
who  still  are  remarkably  skilful  hunters  seem  to  receive  a 
good  deal  of  respect,  and  their  words  have  considerable 
influence  upon  the  other  members  of  the  colony,  but  this 
is  merely  a  matter  of  deference,  and  not  a  recognition  of 
authority.  No  greater  degree  of  liberty  can  be  found  in 
any  part  of  the  world  than  is  enjoyed  by  the  happy  people 
of  this  cold  and  desolate  land. 


CHAPTER   XXV 

INTELLIGENCE,    RELIGIOUS  IDEAS  Am.  (  i  sh.ms 

From  the  description  already  given,  the  reader  will 
readily  admit  that  the  natives  at  Smith  Sound,  like  their 
brothers  farther  south,  are  really  an  intelligent  people. 
The  weapons  which  they  make  and  the  manner  in  which 
they  conduct  their  hunting  expeditions  show  that  they 
are  not  wanting  either  in  ingenuity  or  in  skill.  In  re- 
cent years  contact  with  the  members  of  the  Peary  expedi- 
tion has  done  much  to  develop  these  qualities  as  well  as 
to  bring  the  merits  of  the  tribe  to  the  attention  of  civil- 
ized people. 

They  greatly  surprised  us  by  the  facility  with  which 
they  learned  to  use  firearms  and  the  skill  which  they 
exhibited,  after  practising  for  only  a  few  hours,  in  hand- 
ling our  whale-boats. 

I  think  Kolotengva  is  one  of  the  most  gifted  men  in 
the  tribe.  He  is  certainly  one  of  the  ablest  and  most 
efficient  of  the  younger  members.  1  Iv  is  about  twenty- 
five  years  of  age,  with  a  powerful  frame  and  muscles  like 
steel.  His  eyes  are  small  but  bright,  and  he  can  clearly 
discern  distant  objects  that  are  invisible  to  ordinar)' 
people.  His  hair,  which  is  long  and  black,  is  quite  curly 
and  forms  a  fine  frame  for  his  brave-looking  face.  In 
many  ways  he  reminds  me  of  chiefs  of  whom  I  have  read 
in  Indian  tales.  No  one  in  the  whole  tribe  was  prouder 
than     Kolotengva,    no   one    more    independent,  no   one 


42  2  ACROSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

cooler  in  danger,  shrewder  in  hunting,  or  more  faithful 
in  friendship.  Tungvingva,  his  wife,  was  a  red-cheeked, 
smilins:  child  with  dark  eves  and  snow-white  teeth. 

This  couple  had  a  pastime  in  which  no  other  members 
of  the  tribe  ever  engaged.  This  was  drawing.  Some- 
times they  made  sketches  of  the  ships  of  the  Kablunak 
(white  men),  sometimes  men  were  represented,  at  others 
animals,  huts,  tents,  or  kaiaks.  As  I  had  fortunately 
brought  a  larger  quantity  of  these  things  than  I  needed, 
I  kept  them  supplied  with  pencils  and  paper.  Many  of 
their  drawings  were  very  interesting,  and  all,  without  a 
single  exception,  showed  that  they  were  keen  observers. 

A  picture  drawn  by  Kolotengva  in  my  sketch  book 
represents  a  hunting  scene.  Two  hunters,  an  Eskimo 
with  a  bow  and  arrow  and  a  Kablunak  with  a  rifle,  are  ap- 
proaching two  reindeer  from  different  directions.  Their 
sledge  is  waiting  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  upon  which 
the  hunt  is  taking  place.  The  Kablunak  is  shown  in 
a  somewhat  intoxicated  condition  and  as  being  lightly 
clad,  but  as  a  whole  the  picture  is  quite  instructive.  An- 
other picture,  drawn  from  memory  by  Tungvingva,  rep- 
resents the  steam  sealer  Kite.  It  was  one  of  her  first 
attempts  to  draw  with  a  pencil,  and  is  quite  creditable. 
Still  another  drawing  b\'  Tungvingva  represents  two 
white  men.  As  they  have  their  hair  cut,  instead  of  wear- 
ing it  long  like  the  natives,  she  has  simply  represented 
them  as  bald-headed,  and  has  thereby  caused  the  ears  to 
stand  out  rather  more  prominently  from  the  fine  heads 
than  their  owners  would  desire. 

Kolotengva  was  a  great  admirer  of  the  knowledge  and 
inventions  of  the  Kablunak,  and  was  glad  to  adopt  and 
recommend  to   the  tribe  any  of  our  customs  or  methods 


INTELLIGENCE,    RELJGJOLS   IDEAS,  Ci'STOMS    4^3 

that  could  be  made  of  practical  use  in  the  conditions 
under  which  they  lived.  I  h-  was  the  first  to  provide  hinv 
self  with  pockets  in  his  seal-skin  coat,  lie  found  them 
a  great  convenience,  and  his  example  was  soon  followed 
by  many  of  the  other  young  men. 

Kolotengva  had  a  comrade  whom  he  liked  better  than 
he  did  most  of  the  others.  This  was  Kudla.  I  do  not 
know  a  better  description  of  these  two  than  "hurragut- 
ter."  ^  Wherever  anything  was  going  on  they  were  inva- 
riably to  be  found.  The)-  were  always  full  of  fun,  and 
were  sure  to  do  something  \ery  comical. 

In  July,  1894,  I  ^^■''^s  accidentally  present  when  Kolo- 
tengva and  Kudla  returned  from  a  reindeer  hunt.  While 
talking  with  them  I  noticed  that  the  former's  face  and 
hands  were  so  thickly  covered  with  mosquito  bites  as  to 
give  him  the  appearance  of  having  had  the  smallpo.x, 
while  the  latter  was  entirely  free  from  such  marks.  When 
Kudla  perceived  that  I  was  going  to  speak  about  it  he 
forestalled  me  with  the  remark,  made  xQvy  seriously  and 
with  an  assumption  of  superiority,  that  the  mosquitoes 
had  troubled  little  Kolotengva  \Qvy  badly  while  he  was 
asleep  at  night,  but  as  for  himself  the  insects  did  not 
dare  to  attack  him.  "  And  why  }  "  continued  Koloteng\'a 
immediately,  "  because  even  the  mosquitoes  refuse  the 
miserable  stuff  that  is  flowing  through  your  veins."  This 
is  only  a  specimen  of  th.e  satirical  fun  and  repartee  of 
which  these  young  fellows  were  masters. 

If  possible  a  still  more  pronounced  hurrah  boy  was 
Kaschu.  He  was  about  thirty  years  old  and  was  as  lively 
as  a  cricket.    His  face,  which  was  broad  and  round,  looked 

1  Hurragutter.  literally  translated  would  be  "hurrah  boys."    It  isequiralcnl 
to  our  terms  "  one  of  the  boys,"  "  a  gay  boy,'*  or  "  a  jolly  fellow." 


424  AC7WSS  XORTHERN  GREENLAXD 

as  if  it  liad  been  hastily  cut  out  of  a  piece  of  timber  by  a 
wood-carver.  When  he  was  perfectly  happy  he  laughed  so 
heartily  as  to  stretch  his  mouth  from  ear  to  ear  and  shut 
both  his  eyes.  If  for  any  reason  he  considered  himself  in 
danger  he  invariably  closed  one  eye.  His  physical  endur- 
ance was  almost  unlimited,  and  it  would  be  extremely  dif- 
ficult to  find  a  travelling  companion  more  energetic  and  at 
the  same  time  more  genial. 

Kaschu  pitched  his  tent  near  the  winter  quarters  of  the 
second  Peary  expedition,  and  remained  there  for  a  long 
time.  Every  morning,  even  after  it  had  become  very 
cold,  he  could  be  seen,  without  a  stitch  of  clothing,  walk- 
ing around  and  taking  his  weather  observation  for  the 
da}'.  When  the  white  men  had  any  amusements  in  pro- 
gress Kaschu  never  failed  to  be  with  us.  W'hen  we  were 
running  on  ski,  on  the  hills  back  of  the  house,  he  accom- 
panied us,  and  in  time  he  became  quite  a  skilful  ski 
runner,  though  his  appearance  was  far  from  elegant. 
When  running  fast  he  made  the  most  frightful  faces,  and 
when  at  full  speed  he  believed  that  he  was  in  great  peril 
and  always  closed  one  of  his  eyes. 

As  I  have  commenced  giving  biographical  sketches  I 
will  add  a  few  more  of  some  of  the  typical  members  of 
the  tribe. 

Among  the  very  old  people  there  were  the  parents  of 
Kaschu,  Arodoksua  and  Migibsungua.  As  an  indication 
that  the  old  man  knows  something  of  the  laws  of  health, 
it  may  be  stated  that  since  he  ceased  hunting  he  takes 
exercise  every  forenoon  by  walking  for  a  long  distance  on 
the  ocean  ice,  pushing  his  empty  sledge  in  front  of  him. 
Recently  he  has  suffered  considerably  from  rheumatism. 
His  wife  is  quite  well,  and  her  tongue  is  active  from  early 


INTELLIGENCE,   RELIGIOUS  IDEAS,  CUSTOMS    4S5 

in  the  niorniiiLr  until  hitc  at  night.  When  strangers  are 
present  she  is  ahiiost  continually  jjraising  her  matchle!»s 
son,  Kaschu.  Her  other  son,  the  half-witted  Aningana, 
she  seldom  niention.s,  but  she  represents  Ka,schu  as  a 
wonderful  boy.  When  ^he  describes  him  as  a  fine-look- 
ing fellow,  one  who  is  familar  with  his  wooden  head,  his 
large  mouth,  and  his  half-closed  eyes  can  hardly  keep 
from  laughing. 

Among  the  most  worthy  of  tlie  married  couples  of 
the  tribe  should  be  named  Ingajxaddu  and  Ituschaksiii, 
the  parents  of  Tungvingva.  They  have  si.\  children,  the 
largest  number  in  one  family  within  the  memory  of  the 
oldest  member  of  the  tribe.  Ituschaksui  is  a  good  mother, 
and  looks  carefully  after  the  comfort  and  welfare  of  her 
family.  I  have  seen  her  go  out  on  the  ice  for  more  than 
a  mile  to  tell  two  of  her  younger  children,  who  were  play- 
ing there,  that  it  was  growing  cold  and  thcv  should  have 
some  coverini^  on  their  hands. 

Ituschaksui  has  two  younger  brothers,  both  of  whom 
are  married.  Their  names  are  Aseio  and  Panikpa. 
Like  their  sister,  they  are  highly  gifted.  i)articularly  Aseio, 
whose  pale,  narrow  face  and  large,  thoughtful  eyes  are  the 
outward  signs  of  a  clear  intellect  and  quick  perceptions. 
He  is,  however,  not  very  strong,  and  for  this  reason  his 
w^ife,  Anavi,  has  often  been  obliged  to  perfonn  the  kinds 
of  work  that  usually  fall  to  the  men.  So  she  has  turned 
into  somewhat  of  an  Amazon.  She  can  drive  a  sledge- 
team  with  suprising  dexterity  and  ply  the  whip  with  as 
much  strength  and  persistence  as  any  ordinary  man. 

Panikpa  is  of  a  rather  retiring  and  philosophical  nature. 
He  prefers  to  have  his  tent  or  winter  hut  in  a  lonely  place 
where  people  do  not  pass  daily,  and  where  he,  with  his 


42  6  ACROSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

wife  and  their  small  children,  can  enjoy  life  in  a  peaceful 
and  quiet  manner.  I  have  had  many  long  conversations 
with  Panikpa,  and  he  always  seized  the  opportunity  to 
make  inquiries  in  regard  to  foreign  lands.  His  faith  in 
the  Kablunak  is  very  great,  and  he  has  a  strong  desire  to 
see  their  cities,  railroads,  horses,  and  many  other  things  of 
which  he  has  learned  something  from  pictures  and  verbal 
descriptions.  It  is  very  doubtful  if  his  wish  in  this  respect 
is  ever  gratified.  But  even  now  his  horizon  is  more 
extended  than  is  that  of  many  a  peasant  in  civilized  lands, 
and  the  nature  of  his  inquiries  indicates  a  very  thoughtful 
mind. 

Another  prominent  member  of  this  tribe  is  Kayegvitto, 
a  smart,  good-natured  fellow  who  is  taller,  and  probably  is 
also  stronger,  than  any  of  his  comrades.  This  superiority 
has  made  him  very  vain.  He  seems  to  have  formed  the 
opinion  that  he  is  really  the  leading  man  of  the  tribe  and 
that  he  ought  to  be  acknowledged  as  such.  He  evidently 
gained  this  idea  by  observing  the  conduct  of  our  own 
people.  He  observed  that  there  was  one  of  our  party  who 
was  treated  with  great  respect  and  was  obeyed  by  the 
others.  Doubtless  this  awakened  a  desire  on  his  part  to 
act  as  leader  of  his  companions.  His  vanity  was  quite 
conspicuous,  as  there  was  no  trace  of  it  in  any  other 
member  of  the  tribe.  His  comrades  treat  the  matter  as 
a  sort  of  a  joke,  smile,  and  say  something  equivalent  to 
"  Kayegvitto  —  yes,  poor  fellow,  he  is  a  little  off." 

On  one  occasion  this  vanity  on  the  part  of  Kayegvitto 
proved  of  great  benefit  to  our  party.  This  was  about  the 
middle  of  winter,  when  the  second  Peary  expedition  was 
at  the  north.  The  supply  of  food  for  our  large  num- 
ber of  dogs  had  become  greatly  reduced.     We  had  heard 


INTELLIGENCE,  KEI.JClOiS  IDEAS,  CUSTOMS    4,7 

that  Kayegvitto  had  a  considerable  quantity  of  meat  at 
the  colony  Nachsa,  on  the  scuith  side  of  Whale  Sound. 
It  was  decided  that  I  should  go  there  and  try  to  obtain  a 
supply.  I  set  out  and  on  the  following  day  reached  the 
colony  while  the  moon  was  shining.  I  was  received  at 
the  shore  by  all  the  male  inhabitants,  jjrominent  among 
whom  was  Kayegvitto.  No  sooner  did  ihe  latter  see 
that  it  was  a  Kablunak  who  had  come  to  pay  them  a  visit 
than  he  shot  into  his  hut  like  an  arrow,  but  he  soon  re- 
turned, clad  in  an  old  and  well-worn  coat  that  he  had 
obtained  the  previous  autumn  by  trade  from  one  of  the 
members  of  the  expedition.  This,  he  appeared  to  think 
gave  him  a  sufficient  degree  of  dignity  to  enable  him  to 
represent  his  "subjects"  in  proper  manner, 

I  at  once  walked  up  to  him,  took  his  hand,  and  shook 
it  very  hard.  The  ceremony  of  shaking  hands  is  not 
customary  among  the  Eskimos  of  this  tribe,  but  they  had 
learned  its  meaning,  and  in  this  case  it  appeared  ver)* 
flattering  to  Kayegvitto.  I  then  explained  to  him  my 
errand,  telling  him  that  Peary,  the  great  master  (nale- 
gaksuak)  from  the  distant  land,  wanted  meat  for  his  hungr\- 
dogs,  and  that  I  had  come  to  ask  Kayeg\itto,  the  great 
master  of  the  Innuits,  to  supply  him.  I  said  that  Kayeg- 
vitto had  a  good  deal  of  meat,  he  was  a  great  hunter,  and 
that  only  he  was  nalegaksuak  of  the  Innuits.  The  last 
sentence  was  highly  pleasing  to  the  person  to  whom  it 
was  addressed.  He  repeated  it  several  times,  and  then 
invited  me  to  spend  the  night  at  his  home,  an  invitation 
which,  of  course,  was  promptly  accepted. 

On  the  following  morning  a  conference  was  held  to 
discuss  the  matter  of  giving  me  the  supplies  for  which  I 
had  asked.     After  I  had  for  a  couple  of  times  called  this 


428  ACROSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

heavy,  coarsely  built  man  the  great  master  of  the  Innuits, 
Kayegvitto,  with  an  air  of  superiority  that  was  indescrib- 
ably ludicrous,  ordered  his  companions  to  fill  my  sledge 
with  meat.  Once  in  a  while  he  would  assist  in  the  work 
by  graciously  picking  out  for  me  the  larger  pieces  of  meat. 
The  Eskimos  who,  for  the  occasion,  had  voluntarily  con- 
descended to  be  the  subjects  of  Kayegvitto,  heartily  en- 
joyed the  whole  affair,  and  were  good-natured  enough  to 
continue  the  comedy  to  the  end. 

When  the  meat  was  loaded  Kayegvitto  received  a 
suitable  present,  which  apparently  he  had  not  expected, 
and  I  left  the  great  man  standing  in  the  moonlight,  still 
dressed  in  his  thin  coat,  although  the  temperature  was 
something  like  minus  40°  Celsius. 

In  this  tribe  there  is  a  little  orphan  boy  whose  name  is 
Kadluktu.  He  lived  for  a  long  time  at  our  winter  house, 
under  Matt's  berth,  and  was  well  fed  with  the  remnants 
of  our  meals.  He  was  a  nice  and  bright  little  fellow, 
and  we  took  quite  an  interest  in  him.  Matt,  especially, 
seemed  to  have  an  almost  fatherly  care  for  him.  First 
he  gave  him  a  thorough  washing  over  his  whole  body. 
Then  he  employed  a  couple  of  old  women  to  free  his 
clothes  from  dirt  and  vermin,  an  operation  that  was 
greatly  needed.  When  these  things  had  been  done,  he 
cut  the  boy's  hair  as  close  as  that  of  a  seal ;  and  as  far 
as  outward  appearance  could  go,  Kadluktu  was  civilized. 
The  little  fellow  has  no  steady  home.  He  lives  some- 
times with  one  family  and  at  others  with  another,  but 
wherever  he  goes  he  is  always  treated  kindly. 

Kaoni  is  the  name  of  a  queer  fellow  wdio  has  a  large 
wife  and  four  children.  I  suspect  that  he  is  a  bit  hen- 
pecked.    At   the   colonies   which    Kaoni  visits   there   is 


INTELLIGENCE,  RELIGIOUS  IDEAS,  CC'SrOA/S    429 

always  fun  for  tlic  inhabitants,  l)ut  it  is  at  his  expense. 
He  is  extremely  awkward  in  everything;  that  he  does,  and 
in  addition  to  this  he  has  the  unfortunate  habit  of  stut- 
tering. So  it  is  inevitable  that  he  should  be  the  princi- 
pal figure  in  the  funny  stories  whieh  his  neighbors  tell 
each  other.  The  following  will  serve  as  a  .sample  of 
these  humorous  narrations,  it  represents  a  conversation 
such  as  occurs  when  two  hunters  who  live  near  him  meet 
each  other : — 

"  Nukta  caught  a  narwhal  day  before  yesterday,  and 
Antrodlu  and  Mahotia  each  caudit  a  seal  vesterday." 

"Indeed!  Akkomodingva  and  1  also  killed  two  seals 
yesterday.  Kaoni  was  to  go  with  us,  but  the  kaiak  he 
had  borrowed  upset  just  as  he  pushed  out  from  land,  and 
then  he  stayed  at  home."  [Long  and  subdued  laughter 
from  both  hunters.] 

"  What  did  Kaoni  say  when  he  came  back  again } " 

"  Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-iak  is  no  good."  "  Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-oni 
either,  we  added."     [Again  prolonged  laughter  from  both 

parties.] 

On  our  last  expedition  we  took  with  us  an  l£dison 
phonograph,  and  often  allowed  the  Eskimos  to  listen  to 
it.  Strange  to  say  they  did  not  seem  to  be  very  much 
impressed  with  this  wonderful  invention.  They  never 
for  a  moment  appeared  to  connect  this  api)aratus  with 
anything  supernatural.  Tb.cy  laughed  at  it,  and  seemed 
to  enjoy  hearing  its  hidden  voices,  but  evidently  looked 
upon  it  much  as  they  would  have  looked  ujjon  a  toy  with 
which  they  had  been  familiar  for  years.  We  e.xpcctcd 
that  thcv  would  regard  the  voices  as  those  of  the  spirits 

..ho  hold  a  prominent  place  in  their  religious  conceptions. 

But  their  keen  intelligence  seemed  to  immediately  make 


\\ 


43 o  ACROSS  NORTHER X  GREENLAND 

plain  to  them  that  the  phonograph,  Hke  many  other  curi- 
osities which  the  Kablunak  possessed,  was  a  wonderfully 
complicated,  but  otherwise  a  quite  natural,  product  of  the 
work  of  hunian  hands  and  minds. 

Most  Eskimos  can  easily  count  up  to  twenty,  but  in 
practical  affairs  they  seldom  or  never  have  any  need  for  so 
large  a  number.  When  they  refer  to  more  than  five  ob- 
jects they  usually  say  "  many,"  or  use  some  similar  term 
without  attempting  to  be  exact.  Sometimes,  however, 
when  in  the  long  winter  nights  they  sit  in  their  low  huts 
and  cut  from  ivory  small  figures  of  men,  or  animals,  or 
curiosities  of  various  forms,  they  try  to  count  them,  and 
go  as  high  as  thirty  or  forty.  They  count  on  their  fin- 
gers :  one,  atasuk ;  two,  magluk ;  three,  pingarsut ;  four, 
sissami ;  five,  tedlumet.  If  they  want  to  go  higher  they 
call  six  the  first  finger  on  the  second  hand,  or  igluane  ata- 
suk (sometimes  abbreviated  to  igluane) ;  seven  will  be  the 
second  finger  on  the  second  hand,  or  igluane  magluk, 
and  so  on  until  they  reach  ten.  Then,  as  they  have  no 
more  fingers,  they  begin  to  count  over  again  on  the  fin- 
o^ers  but  o^ive  them  the  names  of  the  toes.  Therefore 
thirteen  will  be  three  toes  on  the  first  foot ;  seventeen 
will  be  two  toes  on  the  second  foot,  and  twenty  will  be 
the  last  toe  on  the  last  foot.  If  the  Eskimo  wants  to 
count  a  larger  number  than  twenty,  he  starts  on  a  new 
man.  Twenty -one  will  then  be  one  on  the  new  man 
(Innuit  aipachsjani  atasuk).  In  this  way  the  count  can  be 
carried  up  to  forty. 

The  Eskimos  are  quite  ingenious  and  are  possessed  of 
a  good  deal  of  mechanical  skill.  These  qualities  are  par- 
ticularly exhibited  when  they  have  occasion  to  repair 
guns    or   other  weapons   or  implements,  for  which  work 


INTELLIGENCE,  RELIGIOUS  IDEAS,  CUSTOMS    431 

they  have  nothing  suitable  in  tlic  way  of  tools  or  mate- 
rials. One  of  their  most  difficult  tasks  is  to  jjut  a  gun  in 
repair  after  the  sprini;  of  the  lock  has  been  broken.  It 
may  be  a  lonu;  time,  months,  perhaps,  before  the  owner  or 
any  of  his  friends  can  devise  a  remedy ;  but  one  is  pretty 
certain  to  be  found,  and  on  some  fine  day  the  gunner 
may  again  be  seen  in  search  of  game,  with  his  weapon  in 
good  working  order.  He  may  have  been  forced  to  give 
up  the  old  lock,  the  spring  now  in  use  may  be  made  of 
ivory  instead  of  steel,  and  the  discharge  may  be  effected 
by  pulling  aside  a  piece  of  wood  which  has  kept  the  ham- 
mer drawn  back  ;  but  in  sj^ite  of  all  these  things  the  gun 
is  again  a  serviceable  weapon,  and  the  owner  is  able  to  do 
as  much  execution  as  he  could  before  the  accident  which 
disabled  it  occurred. 

East  of  Cape  York  there  are  several  large  meteors. 
These  were  carefully  examined  by  Lieutenant  Pear)-  in 
the  spring  of  1894.  It  is  said  that  when  the  English 
polar  expedition  under  Sir  J(jhn  Ross  visited  this  region 
in  the  early  part  of  the  present  century,  the  natives  were 
using  pieces  of  iron,  which  they  obtained  here,  for  point- 
ing their  spears  and  harpoons.  It  is  not  easy  to  under- 
stand how  they  were  able  to  hammer  the  iron  into  a 
suitable  form  witliout  heating  it.  This  method  of  working 
the  metal  was  not  known  to  the  Eskimos  in  this  vicinity 
until  they  came  in  contact  with  the  members  of  the  Pear)- 
expedition.  It  is  therefore  probable  that  in  earlier  times 
the  natives  were  able  to  use  only  a  few  Hat  splinters 
which,  by  tlie  agency  of  natural  causes,  had  become 
separated  from  the  larger  bodies. 

The  Eskimos  are  careful  to  j^roteci  the  feet  of  their 
dogs  from  injury  by  the  hard  and  shar|)  ice  that  fomis 


432  ACROSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

upon  the  surface  of  the  snow  in  spring.  For  this  purpose 
they  make  socks  of  seal-skin,  which  arc  tied  to  the  legs  of 
the  dogs  below  the  lowest  joint,  and  which  prove  very 
efficient. 

These  people  know  the  difference  between  hard  and 
soft  woods,  and  readily  distinguish  between  pine  and  fir 
and  oak  and  ash.  As  they  have  never  seen  a  living  tree, 
this  seems  quite  remarkable.  If  they  could  suddenly  be 
brought  where  they  could  see  the  mighty  oaks  or  the 
dark  green  pines,  similar  to  the  trees  which  have  fur- 
nished the  small  pieces  of  timber  of  which  their  sledges 
are  made,  they  would  shout  with  joy. 

The  Eskimos  have  a  good  deal  of  musical  taste,  but  in 
most  cases  it  is  so  slightly  developed  that  they  are  not 
able  to  catch  our  plainest  and  simplest  airs.  Still  there 
are  some  exceptions.  Ituschaksui  was  our  most  advanced 
pupil.  We  succeeded  in  teaching  her  to  sing  several  of 
our  common  songs  correctly.  All  the  others  to  w^hom  we 
tried  to  teach  these  airs  would  introduce  many  false  notes. 
Still,  their  own  songs,  with  which  they  were  thoroughly 
familiar,  they  sang  very  nicely.  This  was  especially  true 
in  chorus.  Here  no  single  voice  made  itself  prominent 
among  the  others,  and  the  general  effect  of  the  singing 
was  quite  pleasing. 

The  relio:ious  ideas  of  the  Eskimos  at  Smith  Sound, 
though  not  very  clearly  defined,  are  nevertheless  quite 
interestinir.  In  this  small  tribe  we  find  a  shadow  of  the 
belief,  or  perhaps  a  groping  after  the  ideas,  that  were  held 
by  our  own  ancestors  thousands  of  years  ago.  In  reality 
we  are  considering  a  people  who  are  just  beginning  to 
emerge  from  the  stone  age.  They  are  an  original  people 
who  have  remained  in  character  and  in  conduct  almost 


INTFJ.r.fGF.XCE,   /,'/•:/./(; IOCS  /PE.IS,  CUSTOMS    433 

Linchanged  throuo;li  tlic  lai).sc  ol  tlic  ai;cs,  and  who  furnish 
one  of  the  most  interesting  objects  of  study  to  those  who 
desire  to  trace  the  development  and  progress  of  mankind. 

The  various  religions  of  civilized  people  have  assumed 
certain  definite  forms.  The  doctrines  of  each  can  Ix* 
stated  in  a  few  Ijricf  articles  of  faith  which  are  set  forth 
in  the  most  positive  terms,  liut  it  is  altogether  difTcrcnl 
with  the  religion,  or  rather  with  the  religious  conceptions, 
of  the  Eskimos.  The  views  of  this  jjeople  are  vague  and 
undecided.  Upon  most  points  there  is  no  general  agree- 
ment as  to  what  constitutes  the  truth,  but  each  individual 
has  his  own  ideas.  These  take  a  very  wide  range,  but 
they  are  mostly  in  a  shadowy  form. 

Probably  this  uncertainty  is  very  largriy  oue  ui  uu- 
small  number  of  people  in  the  tribe.  In  large  societies 
people  are  strongly  influenced  by  the  opinions  and  beliefs 
of  the  masses  around  them.  The  fact  that  millions  of 
people  have  accepted  certain  doctrines  gives  to  these 
forms  of  belief  a  very  strong  jDresumption  of  truth.  But 
where  the  public,  so  far  as  is  known,  embraces  only  a 
very  few  hundred  peoj)le,  its  inlluence  ujjon  the  individual 
must  be  relatively  small.  And  where,  as  in  this  case,  no 
common  statement  of  belief  has  been  formulated,  the  jkt- 
sonal  element  attains  a  still  greater  degree  of  prominence. 
My  opinion  upon  this  point  has  been  stre;  *'  •  d.  |kt- 
haps  I  might  say  that  its  truth  has  been  ...:..  :.ed.  by 
various  conversations  which  I  have  had  with  the  natives 
themselves. 

After  becoming  well  acquainted  with  him,  and  gaining 
his  confidence  to  such  an  extent  that  he  was  willing  to 
talk  with  me  uj^on  a  subject  which  is  one  of  the  last 
which   uncivilized  people  will  discuss  with  others.  I  askcti 


z'6 


434  ACROSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

Koloteneva,  "  Do  the  Innuits  believe  that  there  is  a  life 
after  death  ?"  He  repHed:  "  Yes.  When  an  Innuit  dies 
his  soul  (or  rather  '  shadow  ')  will  wander  to  a  land  below 
us,  where  there  is  good  hunting,  much  sunshine,  and 
everything  pleasant.  But  others  think  that  the  soul  goes 
to  a  land  high  up  in  the  air,  and  nobody  is  sure  what  is 
right.  We  Innuits  are  so  few,  and  there  are  so  many 
Kablunaks,  and  you  know  everything.  Tell  us  how  it  is 
about  this  matter." 

It  is  not  necessary  to  state  in  full  my  reply  to  this 
request.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  I  went  so  far  as  to  promise 
Kolotengva  an  eternal  life  much  happier  than  his  life  on 
earlli.  No  better  consolation  can  be  offered  a  man  who 
is  troubled  by  the  thought  of  death. 

When  a  Christian  feels  the  cares  and  sorrows  of  life 
bearing  heavily  upon  him,  and  finds  trial  and  disappoint- 
ment his  constant  companions,  he  turns  in  prayer  to  an  al- 
mighty and  compassionate  God,  and  obtains  the  help  and 
consolation  which  he  so  sorely  needs.  With  the  Eskimos 
mighty  but  invisible  spirits  take  the  place  of  God,  and  in 
some  measure  compensate  for  their  want  of  knowledge  of 
a  single  all-powerful  Ruler.  They  think  that  these  spirits 
can  be  imprisoned  by  their  angekoks  or  magicians.  Wlien 
this  has  been  accomplished  it  is  thought  that  conferences 
can  be  held  with  the  spirits,  and  that  they  can  be  per- 
suaded to  cure  sickness,  give  success  in  hunting,  and  aid 
in  all  of  the  various  affairs  of  the  daily  lives  of  their  peti- 
tioners. 

Both  men  and  women  can  become  angekoks,  though 
all  are  not  equally  well  adapted  for  such  a  distinction. 
Clearness  of  intellect,  dexterity,  and  a  talent  for  acting  are 
all  required  to  enable  a  man  to  secure  respect  as  a  magi- 


INTELT.IGENCK,  Rl-l.lC.fOrS  IDEAS,  ClSTOAfS    435 

cian.  TIk-  older  an^ckoks  leach  the  younger  {K'oplc  who 
think  themselves  especially  (|ualifiecl  for  the  |>()sition,  or 
who  arc  attracted  to  the  mystic  occupation.  The  tiftie 
required  for  learn int;  extends  over  several  years  and  dur- 
ing  the  course  of  instriK  lion  ni.mv  in\  si.i  I,,iiv  • '-k  ironies 
are  performed. 

1l\\c  priri(ii)al  s])irit  of  \\hi(  h  the  I^skiinos  profe.ss  to 
ha\e  knowledge  is  Tornahuksua  ("the  giant  .shadow"). 
According  to  the  angekoks  he  lives  exchisivcly  ujKm  the 
land,  can  do  harm  as  well  as  good,  and  though  of  su|  cr- 
natural  size,  he  has  the  human  form.  When  on  a  quiet 
day  in  summer  some  sudden  noise  of  falHng  nxrks  is 
heard  in  a  colony,  the  inhal)ilants  will  say  in  a  low  and 
anxious  voice,  "Tornahuksua!  Tornahuksua!"  They 
think  this  mighty  spirit  is  then  wandering  along  the  dark 
cliffs  of  the  mountain-side. 

Another  spirit  of  considerable  importance  is  called 
Kokvoia.  This  is  said  to  have  long  black  arms,  and  to 
live  in  the  sea.  There  are  also  many  other  s|)irits  and 
mystic  beings,  but  they  are  all  of  an  inferior  order.  There 
is,  as  has  been  indicated,  a  great  deal  of  su|KTstiti«)n 
among  the  natives,  but  it  is  so  vague,  and  varies  so  much 
with  different  individuals,  that  it  is  hardly  j)<)ssible  to  note 
any  specific  form  which  can  be  said  to  be  characteristic  of 
the  tribe. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  how  many  angekoks  are  t*)  Ik' 
found  among  the  Innuits  at  Smith  Sound.  In  f "  '  'I'-re 
is  a  great  difference  of  opinion  among  the  ni.  of 

the  tribe  as  to  which  individuals  of  their  numlx-r  are 
entitled  to  this  distinction.  l''or  my>elf.  I  do  not  think 
that  there  is  a  very  strongly  marked  difTercnce  Ix-twecn 
the  ma<n'cians  and  manv  of  those  who  are  not  fully  recog- 


436  ACROSS  NORTHERN  GREENLAND 

nized  as  such.  My  impression  is  that  all  who  can  show  a 
little  feeling  and  mysticism  in  their  songs  make  preten- 
sions of  belonging  to  this  class  on  every  occasion  that 
offers  itself.  It  is,  however,  one  thing  for  a  person  to 
pose  as  an  angekok  and  quite  another  to  so  appear  as 
to  inspire  others  with  reverence.  There  are  hardly  more 
than  a  half  dozen  in  the  tribe  who  are  really  venerated  by 
their  companions.  Of  these,  four  are  men  and  two  are 
elderly  women. 

The  youngest  of  the  four  male  angekoks,  and  the  one 
who  is  the  most  highly  respected,  is  Kayapaddu.  He  is 
about  thirty-five  years  of  age,  fat  and  smiling,  and  has  only 
to  put  on  the  blue  snow-spectacles  with  which  Peary  pre- 
sented him  to  very  closely  resemble  a  good  old-fashioned 
minister.  When  he  gave  his  spiritualistic  seances,  the 
light  from  the  train-oil  lamp  was  turned  ^so  low  that  the 
occupants  of  the  room  could  hardly  see  each  other.  Then 
Kayapaddu,  holding  a  skin  drum  in  one  hand  and  a  drum- 
stick made  of  bone  in  the  other,  would  go  forward  on  the 
floor  and  begin  to  sing  and  drum. 

At  first  his  song  was  low  and  quiet,  but  gradually  it 
would  show  more  and  more  excitement,  his  body  would 
sway  so  that  his  long  hair  would  wave  wildly  around,  and 
his  face  would  take  on  an  agonized  expression.  In  a  few 
hours  he  was  covered  with  persj)iration.  He  pressed  his 
hands  to  his  forehead,  cried  and  moaned,  then  suddenly 
burst  out  in  a  roaring,  almost  a  demoniacal  laughter,  and 
at  last  succeeded  in  making  appear  for  him  some  invisible 
spirits  of  the  lower  orders  that  he  used  as  messengers  to 
the  higher  powers.  Now  he  frequently  changed  his  voice. 
Sometimes  it  represented  the  voice  of  a  spirit,  at  others  it 
was  perfectly  natural.     He  became  more  and  more  noisy 


INTELLIGENCE,  REIICJOUS  JDE.iS,  CUSIOMS    437 

and  clcnionslratiM-,  imlil  at  Iciv^lh  many  of  his  hearers 
became  so  nervous  and  excited  that  they  trembled  with 
emotion  and  some  of  them  began  to  moan  with  him. 

If  the  object  of  this  iKM-formance  was  to  heal  the  sick, 
or  to  prolong  the  life  of  one  who  appeared  to  Ixr  dyinj;, 
Kayapaddu  would  sometimes  continue  tlie  exercises  for 
several  hours,  lie  would  .seldom  give  up  until  the  pa- 
tient was  either  dead  or  imjiroving.  If  death  occurred 
at  such  a  time  it  would  be  said,  in  favor  of  the  angekok, 
that  recovery  was  im}xjssible,  as  some  hostile  s|)irit  had 
obtained  power  over  the  soul,  and  had  j)reviously  stolen 
it,  or  some  similar  excuse  for  his  failure  would  be  made. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  recovery  ensued,  respect  for  the 
magician  appeared  to  be  greatly  increased. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  natives  who  are  j)resent  at 
these  performances  believe  that  the  sjjirits  are  really  pres- 
ent, and  that  they  negotiate  with  the  angekok.  And  for 
my  part  I  dare  not  doubt  that  the  angekok  acts  in  gotxl 
faith.  It  is  often  said,  and  perhaps  correctly,  that  if  a  lie 
is  repeated  times  enough,  the  one  who  tells  it  comes  to 
believe  that  it  is  true.  There  can  hardly  be  a  question 
that  the  angekoks  are  self-deceived. 

The  belief  which  appears  to  extend  to  all  races  and  all 
parts  of  the  \vorld  in  amulets,  or  objects  that  have  the 
power  to  jDrotect  their  wearer  from  evil  spirits  and  give 
security  when  danger  threaten.s,  is  common  among  the 
Eskimos  at  Smith  Sound.  These  amulet.s  are  often  nar- 
row bracelets  of  black  seal-skin  without  hair.  For  women 
necklaces  of  the  same  material  arc  in  common  use.  Pieces 
of  seal-skin  clothes  that  once  belonged  to  people  who  have 
died,  small  i\-ory  figures  of  men  or  animals,  and  N-arious 
other  objects  are  also  emi)loyed.     The  amulets  are  consc- 


43S  ACJiOSS  NOKTHERX  GREENLAND 

crated  by  sini^iiiL;-  mystic  songs  over  them.  As  a  rule  the 
older  people  decide,  or  at  least  suggest,  what  objects  the 
children  or  young  people  ought  to  select  for  the  purpose. 

When  an  Eskimo  dies  the  remaining  members  of  the 
family  observe  many  formalities,  in  order  that  the  soul  of 
the  deceased  sliall  not  feel  insulted.  They  are  not  to 
mention  his  name,  but  must  cry  and  mourn  a  certain 
length  of  time  after  his  death.  Those  who  have  touched 
the  dead  body  or  anything  belonging  to  it  must  for  a 
long  period  observe  certain  rules  in  regard  to  their  cloth- 
ing and  diet. 

Before  the  body  is  taken  out  it  is  dressed  in  full  travel- 
ling costume.  Then  it  is  drawn  by  straps  through  the 
entry  of  the  house,  taken  for  some  distance  from  the 
dwellings  and  away  from  the  shore,  and  is  well  covered 
with  stones.  Often  the  corpse  is  bent  so  that  the  knees 
touch  the  breast,  and  is  then  rolled  in  skins.  This  is 
done  to  save  the  labor  of  making  as  large  a  grave  as 
otherwise  would  be  needed.  The  house  in  which  a  death 
has  occurred  is  immediately  vacated.  If  it  is  ever  used 
again  it  will  be  only  after  a  long  period  of  time  has  inter- 
vened. 

All  the  property  of  the  dead  that  his  friends  think 
could  be  of  service  to  him  in  his  long  wandering  to  the 
land  of  souls  is  placed  near  the  grave.  The  natives  be- 
lieve that  it  is  the  "  souls  "  of  these  objects,  and  not  the 
material  things  themselves,  that  will  be  useful  to  the  de- 
parted in  his  long  last  journey.  And  while  the  soul  is 
going  toward  the  distant  sunlit  hunting  fields  the  body 
remains  in  eternal  sleep.  Only  the  chilling  blasts  of  the 
wind  penetrate  among  the  stones  and  sweep  through  the 
faded  fur  coat  in  which  all  that  was  mortal  of  the  man 
is  clothed. 


A   BRIEF    HIS  TORY 
OF  Till';  I'kiM  ii'\i. 

EARLIER  ARCTIC   J.Xl'Lok  \  1  1<  )\S 

FROM  THK   NINTH   CKNi  I  KV  TO    iHl-- 
PKARY  KXl'KDI  TION 

INCLUDING  TIIOSK  i>l 

CABOT,  FRORISHKR,  UKRING.  SIR  |(  )||.\    i  k  AN  Kii  n. 

KANK,   HAVES,  H ALL.  N(  )RI )KNSK|(  »L1). 

NARKS,  SCHWA  IKA.  DK   L(  )NC. 

GREELV,  AM)  ol  IH-:RS 


ASSISTANT   EDITUK   oK   THB   "cOLrMHIAN  CVCU>«WA  ' 


4  to 


^^^^^ 


■-(S^i 


EARLIER  ARC  riC  l^XTLoRA  1  loXS 


cii.\i''n;R  x\\  1 

PIONEKR    VOVAGKS 

Who  first  engaged  in  Arctic  cxjjioration.  and  from 
what  point  and  on  wliat  date  the  rir>t  expedition  started,  is 
unknown.  Pytheas,  a  geographer  who  hved  in  the  time 
of  Alexander  the  Cireat,  claimed  to  have  entered  the 
Polar  Zone.  He  reported  the  discovery  of  various  re- 
gions, and  represented  that  he  had  "  explored  Northern 
Europe  even  to  the  world's  end."  To  .some  region  that 
he  visited  the  name  of  Thule  was  given  ;  but  whether  this 
was  Iceland,  one  of  the  .Shetland  Island.s,  or  some  other 
country,  cannot  be  determined. 

Whatever  may  have  j^reviously  been  discovered,  ii  i> 
probable  that  in  the  middle  of  the  ninth  centurv  tVure 
were  no  human  settlements  farther  north  than  :  e 

Islands.  It  is  certain  that  at  tliis  date  the  Scandinavian.s 
were  a  hard}-  and  restless  people,  fearless  and  persevering, 
and  possessed  of  an  uncjuenchable  spirit  of  a'  <•  and 

thirst  for   discovery.     There  is    reason   to    -  that 

about  the  year  .S6o  a  party  of  these  sea  ro\'  "-e  at- 

tempting to  reach  the  Faroe  Islands,  were  driven  upon  an 
island  which  presented  such  an  inhospitable  appearance 
that  they  named  it  .Snowland.  A  few  years  later  a  party 
of  Swedes  visited  the  same  island  and  gave  it  the  name  (»f 

441 


442  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

Iceland,  by  wliich  it  has  since  been  known.  In  or  about 
the  year  S74  Norwegian  achenturers  estabhshed  the  first 
permanent  settlement  upon  the  island  and  laid  the  foun- 
dations of  a  prosperous  colony. 

Previous  to  this,  voyages  in  the  northern  waters  appear 
to  have  been  undertaken  principally  for  the  purpose  of 
adventure.  But  in  890  Simon  Otho,  or  Other,  a  Norwe- 
gian sailor,  reputed  to  have  been  in  the  service  of  Alfred 
the  Great  of  England,  seems  to  have  engaged  in  a  mari- 
time exploration  which  had  a  commercial  end  in  view. 
At  this  time  the  Venetians  and  the  Moors  controlled 
commerce  and  shut  out  the  English  people  from  direct 
trade  with  Turkey  and  India.  It  was  therefore  desired 
to  find  a  way  of  reaching  these  countries  without  passing 
into  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  According  to  ancient  rec- 
ords the  king  fitted  out  a  ship  and  commissioned  Otho 
to  make  a  voyage  of  discovery  "  for  the  glorye  of  God,  the 
honour  of  his  kinge,  and  publique  goode  of  his  countrie." 
Thus  equipped  Otho  commenced  a  search  for  a  northeast 
passage  to  India.  Just  how  far  he  went  cannot  be  deter- 
mined, but  it  is  certain  that  he  sailed  around  the  northern 
extremity  of  Iceland,  and  that  he  was  the  first  navigator 
who  crossed  the  Arctic  Circle,  After  enduring  many 
hardships  he  returned  home  without  making  any  valuable 
discoveries. 

When  the  Iceland  colony  had  been  established  about 
a  hundred  years  it  was  joined  by  Tiiorwald,  a  powerful 
chief  who  had  been  expelled  from  Norway.  He  was  soon 
followed  by  his  son,  who  is  known  in  history  as  Eric  the 
Red.  The  latter  had  heard  of  a  land  upon  which  a  sail- 
ing party  had  Ijeen  driven  in  a  storm,  and  in  the  year  9S2 
he  started  on  a  voyage  on  which  he  discovered  a  country 


riOXKKR    I'OYAGES  443 

wliicli  he  calk'd  ( iivcnland.  It  is  supposed  that  this 
pleasant  name  was  ^ivcii  in  order  to  induce  |K-ople  to 
settle  there.  That  it  proved  disappointing  to  some  of  its 
visitors  is  indicated  by  one  of  the  early  writers,  who  s.'iid 
that  "  certainly  there  is  no  |)lace  in  the  world  yet  knowne 
and  discovered  that  is  less  greene  than  it."  In  .spite  of 
the  forbidding'  as])ect  of  the  country,  Kric  succeeded  in 
establishing  a  colony  which  soon  became  of  considerable 
importance.  The  Christian  religion  was  accepted  and 
the  church  prospered  to  such  an  extent  that  in  1121  a 
bishop  was  consecrated.  I'Or  about  three  hundred  years 
thereafter  the  colony  was  strong  and  thriving.  At  the 
close  of  this  perit)d  a  raj)id  decline  commenced,  and  the 
church  and  colony  fell  into  utter  ruin.  'I'he  causes 
of  their  disappearance  are  imolved  in  an  impenetrable 
mystery. 

In  the  year  1000  Lcif,  a  son  of  Iiric  the  Red,  having 
been  told  by  a  \isitor  from  Icrland  who  had  encounteretl 
contrary  winds  of  a  land  that  he  had  seen  while  on  his 
way,  started  on  a  voyage  in  hope  of  discovering  this  un- 
known region.  The  numerous  accounts  of  this  voyage 
which  have  come  down  to  the  i)resenl  lime  show  consid- 
erable variation  as  to  details,  but  it  is  clear  that  the  |>arty 
saw  Newfoundland  and  Xova  Scotia,  tiiat  they  landed  on 
the  coast  of  New  England,  that  they  wintered  near  Plym- 
outh Rock,  and  that  here  was  born  a  child  that  in  all 
probability  was  the  ^n•^t  one  born  of  European  parents  on 
the  American  continiMit.  On  account  of  the  great  num- 
ber of  vines  whi(  h  were  found,  the  country  was  named 
\inland.  All  this  occurred  nearly  five  hundred  ycam 
before  Columbus  set  foot  on  the  New  World. 

In    1  v'^o  two  X'enetian   brothers,  named   Zeu'v  i--..  ^.o.l 


444  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

tu  have  sailed  to  tlie  nortli  and  on  their  return  given 
interesting  accounts  of  the  countries  which  they  had 
seen,  but  just  wliat  hinds  the\'  reached  cannot  be  deter- 
mined. V^arious  other  venturesome  navigators  sailed  upon 
American  waters,  but  for  a  long  period  after  the  discovery 
of  the  New  England  coast  no  important  results  were 
obtained. 

The  wonderful  discoveries  of  Columbus  ga\e  a  new 
and  powerful  impetus  to  maritime  adventure  and  explo- 
ration. F"rom  this  time  on,  instead  of  the  ro\'ing  voyages 
of  individuals,  expeditions  were  organized  with  great  care, 
often  under  the  authority  of  the  government  of  the  coun- 
try whence  they  sailed,  and  were  commanded  by  men 
who  were  educated  in  the  science  of  the  time  and  also 
were  in  most  cases  practical  seamen.  In  1496  John 
Cabot,  a  Venetian  then  Hving  at  Bristol,  and  his  sons 
were  authorized  by  a  royal  patent  from  Henry  VII.  of 
England  to  sail  under  the  English  flag  "  to  all  parts, 
countries,  and  seas,  of  the  east,  of  the  west,  and  of  the 
north,"  and  as  officers  of  the  king  to  take  possession  of 
whatever  lands  they  might  discover.  The  explorers  were 
obliged  to  furnish  their  own  ships  and  equipment,  and  it 
was  not  until  the  spring  of  1497  that  the  expedition 
started.  On  this  trip  John  Cabot  was  accompanied  by 
his  second  son,  Sebastian,  who  became  a  noted  explorer. 
Newfoundland  and  Labrador  were  discovered  some  eigh- 
teen months  before  Columbus  reached  the  mainland  of 
America.  In  1498  John  Cabot  received  another  com- 
mission from  the  king,  but  for  some  unknown  reason  he 
was  not  able  to  go  with  the  expedition,  and  Sebastian 
Cabot  took  command  of  the  two  ships  that  had  been  pro- 
vided.    There  is  no  doubt  that  an  effort  was  made  to  find 


PIOXKER    VOYAGES  445 

a  nortliwcst  ixissagc  to  India,  Ijut  accounts  of  the  cx|K-(li- 
tion  arc  so  hopelessly  confused  and  conllictinj;  that  it  is 
impossible  to  dcterniiiie  the  course  that  was  pursued  or 
the  highest  degree  of  latitude  that  was  reached. 

In  the  year  1500  Cias])ar  Cortcreal,  of  Portugal,  a  mem- 
ber of  a  noble  family  and  connected  with  tlie  c«»url  of 
King  Emmanuel  of  that  country,  sailed  from  IJslxjii  and 
explored  the  coast  of  Labrador  for  several  hundred  miles. 
The  following  year  he  made  another  voyage,  and  probably 
reached  Hudson  Strait;  but  during  a  violent  stonn  his 
ship  disappeared,  and  no  trace  of  it  or  of  its  crew  was 
ever  found.  In  1524  France  sent  out  an  expedition,  com- 
manded by  Giovanni  V^erazzano,  which  followed  the  coast 
of  the  United  States  and  of  British  .America  to  a  latitude 
of  50°.  After  his  return  Jacques  Cartier  sailed  from 
France  and  reached  the  Bay  of  St.  Lawrence,  which,  with 
the  St.  Lawrence  Ri\er,  he  afterward  more  fully  e.xplorcd. 

During  the  reign  of  Henry  \'1 1 !.  two  polar  expeditions 
were  made  by  the  English,  but  they  added  little  or  nothing 
to  the  knowledge  of  northern  regions  that  had  jireviously 
been  acquired.  Then  a  comj^any  of  merchants,  said  to 
have  been  men  of  "  great  wisdom  and  gravity,"  fitted  out 
three  ships  for  an  expedition  to  search  for  a  northea.stem 
passage  to  India  and  China.  Sir  Hugh  Willoughby,  who. 
though  he  seems  to  ha\e  known  very  little  aUuit  naxTil 
affairs,  was  considered  "  a  most  valiant  gentleman,"  was 
chosen  commander.  In.structions  for  the  voyaj;e  were 
carefully  drawn  l)y  Sebastian  Cabot.  This  exjKxlition 
sailed  in  1553.  While  off  the  North  Ca|)e  a  gale  sepa- 
rated  the  shijjs.  Willoughby  came  within  sight  of  Nox-a 
Zembla,  but  progress  northward  being  impossible  on  ac- 
count of  the  ice,  he  turned  back  to  the  mouth  tif  a  river 


446  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

in  Lapland,  wlicre  he  went  into  winter  quarters  with  the 
crews  of  tlie  two  ships  which  had  kept  together.  Here 
they  all  perished  with  cold  or  hunger.  The  ships  were 
afterward  recovered  and  started  for  England  with  the 
bodies  of  the  departed,  some  seventy  in  number,  but  they 
foundered  at  sea  and  the  livin"'  were  eno^ulfed  with  the 
dead.  The  third  ship,  commanded  by  Chancelor,  readied 
a  place  where  there  was  "  no  night  at  all  "  and  sailed  into 
the  White  Sea.  The  crew  landed  at  Archancjel  and 
opened  the  way  for  an  extensive  commerce  between  Eng- 
land and  Russia. 

In  1576  Martin  Frobisher  sailed  from  England  in  hope 
of  discovering  a  northwest  j^assage.  Oreat  demonstrations 
were  made  by  the  peo})le,  and  Queen  Elizabeth  sent  a 
gentleman  on  board  to  inform  the  crews  that  she  wished 
them  "  happie  successe."  A  point  off  the  coast  of  South- 
ern Greenland  was  reached,  but  the  winds  were  so  con- 
trary that  a  landing  could  not  be  effected.  One  of  the 
vessels  was  lost  and  the  commander  of  another  deserted 
the  expedition  and  sailed  back  to  England.  Frobisher 
continued  his  voyage  and  passed  into  what  is  still  known 
as  Frobisher  Strait.  Returning  home,  he  carried,  with 
various  other  things,  specimens  of  minerals  which  were 
tested  by  various  parties,  by  some  of  whom  they  were  said 
to  contain  gold.  Great  excitement  was  occasioned  by  this 
report  and  the  queen  placed  Frobisher  in  command  of 
another  expedition.  These  ships  brought  back  some  two 
hundred  tons  of  the  ore,  but  it  was  found  to  be  not  only 
destitute  of  gold  but  absolutely  worthless.  A  third  and 
larger  expedition  was  soon  prepared  and  sent  out  under 
the  same  commander,  but  it  met  with  various  and  great 
disasters  and  accomplished  nothing  of  marked  importance. 


rroxr.r.R  ro  vagus 


447 


.<  \ 


v^ 


From  Jubtin  Winsor's  "  Narrative  and  Criliul  MiMory  o(  Amenci." 
Uy  permission  of  Houghlon,  Mifflin  &  Co. 

In  15S0  two  sliips  departed  from  I{n«;Iand  in  search  of 
a  northeast  passage.  They  were  comniaiulcd  by  Arthur 
Pet  and  Charles  Jacknian.  They  entered  the  Kara  Sea. 
but  soon  found  farther  progress  ini|)ossiblc  and  returned. 
Three  years  later  Sir  Muniphrey  Gilbert,  who  had  written 
upon  the  subject  of  the  northwest  passage,  secured  fn>m 
Queen  Elizabeth  permission  to  make  a  voyage  to  America 
and  to  take  possession  of  all  "heathen  and  barbarous 
countries"  which  he   should  discover.      One  fifth  of   tht- 


448  EARIJER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

gold  and  silver  secured  was  to  become  the  property  of 
the  crown,  and  homage  was  to  be  paid  to  the  so\ereign. 
W'itli  these  exceptions  Sir  Humphrey  was  to  have  abso- 
lute authority  in  the  regions  of  which  he  should  take  pos- 
session. After  two  unsuccessful  efforts,  the  first  from 
trouble  with  the  crews  and  the  second  from  bad  weather, 
he  sailed  with  five  ships.  One  soon  returned.  The  others 
reached  Newfoundland,  and  formal  possession  was  taken 
of  the  island.  One  ship  was  sent  home  with  a  number  of 
the  crew  who  were  sick,  and  one  of  the  others  struck  on 
the  coast  and  was  destroyed  by  the  waves.  Only  sixteen 
of  the  crew  escaped.  The  captain  and  about  one  hun- 
dred of  his  men  went  down  with  the  ship.  Fogs  were 
heavy  and  food  supplies  were  becoming  scanty.  The 
crews  of  the  two  remaining  ships  desired  to  go  back  to 
England.  After  exacting  a  promise  that  they  would  re- 
turn with  him  the  next  spring,  Sir  Humphrey  consented 
to  grant  their  request  and  the  homeward  voyage  was  com- 
menced. The  ship  on  which  Sir  Humphrey  sailed  was 
greatly  overloaded,  and,  encountering  a  hard  storm,  it  went 
down  with  all  on  board.  The  remaining  vessel  succeeded 
in  reaching  England,  though  in  a  somewhat  disabled  con- 
dition. 

A  company  of  English  merchants,  with  the  "  desire  of 
advancing  God's  glory  and  the  good  of  their  nati\e  land," 
fitted  out  two  vessels  for  a  voyage  to  discover  a  passage 
to  India.  This  expedition  was  placed  in  charge  of  John 
Davis,  who  sailed  in  1585.  After  reaching  the  coast  of 
Greenland  and  following  it  to  a  considerable  distance,  he 
turned  to  the  west  and  discovered  the  strait  to  which  his 
name  has  been  given.  He  reached  a  point  much  farther 
north   than   any  previous  navigator,  l^ut  storms  and  fogs 


PIOXEKR    lOYAGES  449 

were  encountered  and  the  ships  returned  to  England.     In 
15S6  and  15S7  Davis  revisited  the  places  discovered  on  his 
first  expedition,  and  reached  a  somewhat  higher  latitude. 
but  great  quantities  of  floatinir  ice  s....,,   .  .,,....)    |^i„^   j^ 

leave  the  dangerous  locality. 

The  next  polar  expedition  of  great  importance  was  com- 
manded  by  William  Barents,  of  Holland.     He  made  three 
voyages,  the  first  in  1594.     During  this  voyage  he  reached 
the  northern  point  of  Nova  Zembla,  but  could  not  prcxreed 
farther  on  account  of  the  ice.     That  he  was  wonderfully 
persevering  in  the  face  of  great  difficulties  is  evidenced  by 
the  fact  that  in  trying  to  get  through   the  pack  of  ice  he 
put  his  ship  around  eighty-one  times.     I  le  returned  home 
and  the  following  year  had  command  of  another  exp'  " 
tion,  but  soon  after  he  reached  the  Kara  Sea  a  great  si...... 

arose  and  large  quantities  of  ice  drifted  around  the  ships. 
Efforts  to  proceed  were  futile  and  the  weather  became 
severe.  At  this  juncture  a  council  was  held,  and  it  was 
resolved  that  they  had  done  the  best  they  could  to  carry 
out  the  instructions  under  which  they  had  sailed,  but  that 
it  was  now  to  be  "  seen  that  it  does  not  i)lease  CkkI  that 
we  should  continue  our  voyage,  and  that  it  is  necessarv 
we  should  desist."  They  therefore  resolved  to  return  to 
Holland  as  quickly  as  jjossiblc.  The  government  de- 
clined to  take  further  risks  in  the  matter,  but  offered  a 
reward  to  any  one  who  should  discover  the  passage.  A 
few  residents  of  Amsterdam  equipped  two  vessels,  one  of 
which  was  commanded  by  a  seaman  named  Kijp,  and  the 
other  by  Barents,  which  sailed  in  1596.  Early  in  June 
they  came  to  Bear  Island  and  later  in  the  same  month 
they  discovered  Spitzbergen.  Here  the  commanders  \vr--'- 
unable  to  agree  as  to  the  (  nm-x-  to  be  nuisued.  1;.') 
29 


45©  EARLIER  ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

therefore  separated,  and  each  followed  the  direction  which 
seemed  to  him  most  likely  to  lead  to  a  successful  issue. 
After  sailing  for  some  time  and  making  no  discoveries, 
Rijp  returned  to  Holland.  Barents  reached  the  northeast 
corner  of  Nova  Zembla,  entered  a  bay  which  was  called 
Ice  Haven,  and  was  closed  in  by  the  ice.  Here,  with  the 
sixteen  men  of  his  crew,  he  was  forced  to  spend  the  win- 
ter. With  a  quantity  of  drift  wood  which  they  found,  and 
some  planks  from  the  ship,  they  built  a  house.  Here  they 
suffered  almost  beyond  endurance.  An  entry  in  their 
journal  states  that  the  cold  was  so  intense  that  "  what  fire 
soever  wee  made  it  would  not  warme  us."  Often  the  walls 
were  covered  with  ice  and  clothing  froze  while  it  was  be- 
ing dried  by  the  fire.  For  eighty-one  days  they  were  with- 
out the  sun.  One  of  their  number  died.  During  the 
spring  the  weather  became  milder  and  plans  were  formed 
for  an  escape  from  their  dreary  abode.  But  it  was  not 
until  June  14  that  they  were  able  to  leave,  and  then  they 
were  obliged  to  go  in  two  open  boats,  as  the  ship  was  fast  in 
the  ice.  Barents,  who  had  been  ill  for  some  time,  died  on 
the  fifth  or  sixth  day  of  the  voyage.  After  enduring  great 
privations  twelve  of  the  crew  reached  Lapland  and  were 
taken  home  by  a  Dutch  vessel  which  stopped  there  on  its 
return  from  a  trading  voyage.  More  than  two  hundred 
and  seventy  years  later  the  house  which  Barents  and  his 
crew  had  occupied,  and  in  which  they  had  endured  such 
terrible  privations,  was  visited  by  a  Norwegian  trader 
named  Carlsen,  who  found  cooking  utensils,  tools,  books, 
a  flute,  and  numerous  other  articles,  apparently  just  as 
they  had  been  left  when  those  who  had  used  them  so  long 
ago  departed  never  to  return. 

During  the  next  few  years  various  expeditions  sailed 


PIONEER    I  O )  V/  GES 

to  the  norlli,  but  no  valuable  results  were  secured.  In 
the  year  1607  Henry  Hudson  entered  the  list  of  Arctic 
explorers,  and  in  the  four  voyages  which  he  sailed  he 
made  discoveries  of  great  importance.  The  first  of  these 
expeditions  was  sent  out  by  the  Muscovy  Company.  Mis 
orders  were  to  "go  direct  to  the  North  Pole."  His  .ship 
was  small  and  his  crew  consisted  of  only  twelve  men  and 
a  boy.  He  passed  along  the  east  coast  of  Greenland  and 
examined  the  coast  of  Spitzbergen,  but  after  reaching  a 
latitude  of  about  81°  his  progress  was  checked  by  ice  and 
fog.  His  stock  of  provisions  was  scanty,  and,  the  weather 
becoming  intensely  cold,  he  returned  h(ime.  The  follow- 
ing year  he  sailed  again,  in  a  little  larger  vessel,  and 
hoped  to  find  a  northeast  passage ;  but  heavy  fogs  and  an 
enormous  quantity  of  ice  prevented  him  from  reaching  a 
higher  latitude  than  75^  Upon  this  voyage  he  found  the 
waters  teeming  with  whales  and  seals,  sonic  of  which  he 
hoped  to  capture,  and  witli  the  {proceeds  defray  the  ex- 
penses of  tlie  expedition.  In  this  he  was  as  unsuccessful 
as  he  w-as  in  the  main  object  of  his  trip,  but  from  his 
discovery  very  extensive  and  profitable  fisheries  were 
afterward  developed.  The  next  year  Hudson  engaged 
in  the  service  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company.  Hi.s 
report  of  this  voyage  indicates  that  he  followed  his  own 
inclinations  more  closely  than  he  did  the  course  which 
his  employers  expected  him  to  j^ursue.  For  though  he 
started  northeastward,  he  soon,  under  the  plea  that  the 
ice  w^as  impenetrable,  sailed  to  the  west.  Continuing  this 
course,  he  reached  the  bay  ujion  the  shore  of  which  New 
York   city   now  stands,   and   discovered   the    m.-  t 

river  which  bears  his  name.  In  the  spring  "f  i"io 
Hudson  sailed  uj^on  what  proved  to  be  his  final  voyage. 


452  EARLIER  ARCTIC  EXPIORATIONS 

A  ship  of  fifty-five  tons,  called  the  Discovery,  was  fitted 
out    by   persons   who  believed   that  a   northeast  passage 
could  be  found,  and  who  chose  Hudson  as  its  commander. 
He  visited  the  Orkney  and    Faroe  Islands,  passed   near 
Iceland,    and    reached    what    is    now    called     Resolution 
Island.     From  this  point  he  was  unable  to  proceed  to  the 
north.     Turning  toward  the  south,  he  came  to  the  great 
strait  wliich    has  received    his  name.     Progress  was    ex- 
ceedingly   difficult    on    account    of    ice,    but    he    pressed 
onward  until  he  came  to  the  great  body  of  water  that  is 
now  known  as  Hudson   Bay.      This  appeared  to  him  to 
be  a  great  open  sea,  and  he  believed  it  was  a  part  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean.     He  sailed  for  a  long  distance  into  this 
great   bay,   but    the   weather  became   severe   and    it   was 
necessary  to  go  into  winter  quarters.     What  appeared  to 
be  a  suitable  place  was  found  upon  an  island,  the  vessel 
was  brought  to  the  shore,  and  was  soon  fast  in  the  ice, 
and    preparations   were   made   for  spending    a  long   and 
dreary  season  at  this  inhospitable  retreat.     The  crew  were 
o-reatly  dissatisfied.      Their  means  of  protection  from  the 
cold  were  wholly  inadequate,  their  supplies  of  food  were 
very  scanty,  and   during  the  winter  they  endured   great 
hardships.     Hudson,  however,  seems  never  to   have  lost 
courage   or  wavered  in   his  determination  to  do  all  that 
was  within  his  power  to  bring  his  voyage  to  a  successful 
issue.      But  in   the  spring,  when   an  attempt  was  made  to 
continue  the  exploration,  a  portion  of  the  crew  mutinied. 
Hudson,  his  son,  several  sailors  who  were  sick,  and  the 
carpenter,  who  refused  to  remain  with  the  mutineers,  were 
sent  adrift  in  an  open  boat  and  were  never  heard  of  again. 
A  careful  study  of  what  data  could  be  obtained  led  to 
a  belief  that  by  sailing  across  the  great  open  water  that 


PIONEER    VOYAGES  453 

Hudson  liad  discovered  the  shore  of  China  could  be 
reached.  In  1612  Captain  Iiutt(.)n  was  sent  out  by  Prince 
Henry  of  Wales  to  fnid  a  northwest  passage  and  proceed 
to  the  Asiatic  coast.  He  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Nel- 
son River,  where  at  a  later  date  the  Hudson  IJay  Com- 
pany established  its  first  station.  I  lere  he  was  obliged 
to  stay  until  spring,  when  he  continued  the  voyage  until 
he  reached  a  latitude  of  65".  Then  he  turned  southward, 
and  after  touching  at  Mansell  Islands  sailed  to  England. 
Although  he  had  not  been  able  to  find  it,  he  expressed  a 
firm  belief  in  the  existence  of  the  passage.  About  this 
time  various  other  expeditions  were  sent  out,  but  no  dis- 
coveries of  great  importance  were  made. 

In  1616  William  Bafifin  reached  and  explored  the  great 
body  of  water  which  has  received  his  name  and  which 
geographers  have  pronounced  "  the  most  magnificent  bay 
in  the  \vorld."  He  passed  Lancaster  Sound,  into  which 
Parry  sailed  some  two  hundred  years  afterward,  and  dis- 
covered Smith  Sound.  His  reports  were  not  credited  at 
the  time ;  but  later  explorers  found  that  they  were  true. 
and  that  his  lunar  observations  had  been  taken  with  a 
remarkable  degree  of  skill. 

Several  other  expeditions  were  sent  out  at  brief  inter- 
vals, but  for  a  long  period  no  point  was  reached  as  far 
north  as  BafTfin  had  penetrated,  and  faith  in  the  existence 
of  a  northwest  passage  gradually  declined.  Then.  too. 
about  this  time  the  interest  of  explorers  was  turned  to- 
ward America,  which  became  the  objective  point  of  nu- 
merous voyages  for  the  discovery-  of  new  regions  and  the 
establishment  of  colonies. 

Toward  the  close  of  his  career  Peter  the  Great  of 
Russia  formed  the  plan  of  sending  a  party  to  explore  the 


454  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

northeastern  portion  of  his  dominions  and  find  at  \\hat 
point,  if  any,  the  continents  of  Asia  and  America  were 
separated  by  water.  Empress  Catlierine  was  interested  in 
the  project,  and  after  the  death  of  the  Czar  carried  out  his 
wishes  in  this  respect.  An  expedition  under  the  com- 
mand of  Captain  Vitus  Bering,  a  Dane  who  had  become 
a  trusted  officer  in  the  Russian  navy,  left  St.  Petersburg 
in  1725  and  proceeded  by  land  to  Ochotzk,  a  distance  of 
nearly  four  thousand  five  hundred  miles.  Here  two  ships 
were  built,  and  in  July,  1728,  the  party  sailed  toward  the 
northeast.  They  made  various  observations  along  the 
coast  of  Kamtschatka,  and  proceeded  to  latitude  67°  18', 
when,  finding  no  appearance  of  land  and  fearing  the 
rigors  of  the  rapidly  approaching  winter,  they  returned 
to  the  port  from  which  they  had  sailed.  Here  the  weary 
months  of  the  winter  were  passed.  The  effort  to  reach 
the  American  continent  was  then  repeated,  but  was  in 
vain. 

The  final  voyage  of  this  great  navigator  was  made  in 
1 74 1.  With  two  ships  he  left  a  harbor  in  Kamtschatka 
on  the  4th  of  June,  and  on  the  iSth  of  July  he  discovered 
the  continent  of  America.  The  captain  of  the  other  ship 
had  sighted  the  same  coast,  at  a  lower  latitude,  three  days 
before.  He  remained  in  the  vicinity  for  some  days,  lost 
several  men  who  went  on  shore,  and  then,  with  the 
remainder  of  his  crew,  returned  home.  Bering  made  an 
effort  to  proceed  to  a  higher  latitude,  but  was  driven  back 
by  a  violent  storm.  The  scurvy  broke  out  among  the 
crew,  and  it  was  decided  to  return  to  Kamtschatka,  but 
on  the  way  they  missed  their  course.  Several  of  the  crew 
had  died,  and  so  many  of  the  survivors  were  sick  that  it 
was  almost  impossible   to  manage  the   ship.     Fogs  and 


PIOXEER    VOYAGES  455 

gales  were  encountered,  and  they  were  in  almost  constant 
fear  of  being  wrecked.  In  November  they  were  driven 
upon  a  small  island,  which  received  the  name  of  the  com- 
mander of  the  expedition.  There  tliey  made  what  pre|>- 
arations  they  could  and  went  into  winter  quarters.  On 
the  Sth  of  December  Bering,  who  had  been  ill  for  some 
time,  passed  away.  The  discovery  and  naming  (^f  Mount 
St.  Elias,  and  the  discovery  of  Bering  Strait,  which  proved 
that  Asia  and  America  were  not  connected  by  land,  were 
among  the  fruits  of  this  expedition,  in  which  one  of  the 
most  meritorious  of  the  great  Arctic  explorers  lost  his  life. 
This  was  followed  by  several  other  Russian  expeditions, 
some  by  sea  and  others  by  land,  by  which  considerable 
additions  to  the  previous  knowledge  of  various  sciences 
were  made. 


CHAPTER    XXVII 

INTEREST    RENEWED 

In  1743  interest  in  Arctic  exploration  was  revived  by 
an  offer  made  by  the  British  Government  of  a  reward  of 
^20,000  for  the  discovery  of  the  Northwest  Passage  by 
way  of  Hudson  Strait.  Various  voyages  were  made,  but 
their  main  object  was  not  accompHshed  and  the  results 
were  very  meagre.  In  1776  the  government  removed  the 
restriction  as  to  the  route,  and  offered  the  reward  for 
the  discovery  of  "  any  northern  passage  "  navigable  for 
ships,  and  also  added  an  offer  of  i^5,ooo  to  any  one  who 
would  penetrate  to  within  one  degree  of  the  North  Pole. 
Among  the  navigators  who  attempted  to  solve  the  great 
Arctic  problem  were  the  famous  Captain  Cook,  whose 
course  was  blocked  by  ice  in  latitude  70°  20',  and  Sir 
Alexander  Mackenzie,  who  discovered  the  great  river  that 
is  called  by  his  name.  William  Scoresby,  a  noted  whaler, 
while  on  a  cruise  off  the  east  coast  of  Greenland,  in  1806, 
succeeded  in  working  his  way  through  the  ice  into  a 
great  open  sea  and  reaching  a  latitude  of  81°  30',  a  higher 
point  than  had  previously  been  attained. 

From  the  officers  and  crews  of  whaling  vessels  which 
returned  from  the  coast  of  Greenland  in  18 16  and  181 7, 
the  British  naval  authorities  learned  that  the  sea  was 
then  unusually  clear  of  ice.  It  was  therefore  considered  a 
favorable  time  for  pushing  the  work  of  exploration;  and 
in   1 8 18  an  expedition,  under    the  command  of    Captain 


INTEREST  A'EXEIVED  4S7 

John  Ross  and   Lieutenant  William   Kclward   Parr)'.  Ix)th 
of  whom  were  subsequently  knighted  for  their  scr\'icc8  in 
this  field  of  investigation,  was  sent  to  discover  the  North- 
west   Passage.     The    two   vessels    with    wliich    they  had 
been  furnished  sailed  in  April  and  arrived  at  the   Danish 
settlement    on  the  Whale    Islands  in    June.     Here  they 
learned  that  the   preceding   winter    had    been    unusually 
severe.     After   various    delays,    and    encountering   great 
dangers  from  the  ice,  they  reached  a  rugged  coast  U|X)n 
which  they  landed  and  which   they  explored  for  quite  a 
distance.     Proceeding  on  their  voyage,  they  followed  to 
a  considerable  extent  the   course  which   Baffin  had  pur- 
sued.   Various  sounds  that  he  had  described  were  passed ; 
but  as  appearances  indicated  that  they  were  either  ba)*s 
or  else  were  impassable  on  account  (jf  ice,  no  effort  was 
made    to    explore  them.     On    the    30th  of  August   they 
reached    one    of    these    inlets    which    was   bordered    by 
majestic  mountains  and  which,  being  free  from  ice.  it  was 
resolved  to  explore.     This  proved  to  be  Lancaster  Sound. 
For  some  thirty  miles  the  course  was  unobstructed,  and 
the  officers  and  crews  were  hopeful  and  almost  confident 
that  full   success   was  soon  to  crown  their  arduous  and 
perilous   undertaking.     After   proceeding  a  little    farther 
they  found,  much  to  their  disappointment,  the  apjjearance 
of  a  mountain  range  directly  across  their  course.     The 
weather  was  threatening,  and  Captain   Ross  hastily  gave 
orders  to  return  to  the  bay.     When  this  was  reached  the 
western  coast  was  followed  for  some  distance,  and  then 
the  expedition  returned  to  England,  arriving  there  safely 

in  October. 

This  failure  to  discover  the  passage  for  which  so  many 
other  navi-ators  had  searched  in  vain  strongly  tended  to 


458  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

confirm  the  opinion  that  Baffin  had  formed,  and  many 
others  had  accepted,  that  from  Lancaster  Sound  there 
was  no  entrance  to  a  sea  lying  to  the  west.  From  this 
view  Lieutenant  Parry  dissented,  claiming  that  this  expe- 
dition, like  others  which  had  preceded  it,  "  had  been 
relinquished  just  at  a  time  when  there  was  the  greatest 
chance  of  success."  After  a  careful  investigation  of  the 
causes  which  led  Ross  to  return,  the  government  directed 
Parry  to  make  another  voyage.  In  accordance  with  this 
commission  he  sailed  from  England,  with  two  ships,  in 
May,  1819. 

The  ships  were  provisioned  for  two  years,  and  were 
well  supplied  with  whatever  was  supposed  to  be  needed  in 
such  a  voyage.  The  instructions  under  which  he  sailed 
required  the  commander  to  make  as  thorough  an  explora- 
tion as  possible  of  Lancaster  Sound,  and,  in  case  that  was 
found  to  be  impenetrable,  to  enter  other  inlets,  if  open 
ones  were  found.  A  direct  voyage  to  Lancaster  Sound 
was  attempted,  but  when  latitude  ']'^  was  reached  vast 
masses  of  ice  were  encountered.  For  some  ten  days 
navigation  was  extremely  difficult,  and  many  times  the 
ships  narrowly  escaped  being  wrecked.  On  the  25th  of 
June  an  open  way  appeared,  and  the  voyage  was  con- 
tinued with  but  little  difficulty  till  on  the  30th  of  July 
the  southern  entrance  to  Lancaster  Sound  was  reached. 
This  was  about  four  weeks  earlier  in  the  season  than  the 
expedition  of  the  previous  year  had  come  to  this  point. 
On  the  following  day  the  crew  went  on  land  and  found 
a  flagstaff  that  had  been  set  the  year  before. 

The  ships  then  passed  up  the  sound,  and  officers  and 
crews  watched  with  great  anxiety  for  evidence  that 
should  determine  whether  the  mountains  which  Ross  had 


INTEREST  RENEWED  459 

claimed  to  see,  and  to  which  lie  had  given  the  name  of 
Croker  Range,  really  existed,  or  were,  as  Parry  firmly  be- 
lieved, only  imaginary.  The  i)()int  at  which  the  range 
had  been  located  was  passed  without  obstruction  and  was 
found  to  be  a  splendid  bay.  Continuing  their  vovage 
along  the  wide  inlet,  which,  in  honor  of  Sir  John  Barrow. 
one  of  the  principal  promoters  of  the  expedition,  was 
named  Barrow  Strait,  the  party  became  confident  that 
their  course  would  lead  them  to  an  open  sea.  They 
were  soon  disappointed  by  coming  to  an  island  from 
which  a  body  of  ice  extended  to  the  northern  shore.  For 
some  time  the  compass  had  been  losing  its  sensitiveness, 
and  at  length  it  became  entirely  useless.  By  this  it  was 
known  that  they  were  near  the  magnetic  pole;  but  the 
time  in  which  Arctic  exploration  could  be  continued  was 
so  brief  that  it  w-as  not  considered  wise  to  delay  in  order 
to  take  exact  observations.  Varying  their  course  to  avoid 
the  ice,  and  pressing  forward  with  what  speed  they  were 
able,  they  came,  on  the  2 2d  of  August,  to  a  strait  some 
eight  leagues  in  width,  that  seemed  to  be  free  from  ice, 
which  w^as  named  Wellington  Channel,  but  which,  for 
want  of  time,  was  not  explored.  On  September  4  the 
meridian  of  110°  west  longitude  was  crossed,  and  Parr)' 
announced  to  his  crews  that  they  were  then  entitled  to 
the  reward  of  ^5,000  which  had  been  offered  to  subjects 
of  his  Majesty  who  should  fust  reach  that  meridian  within 
the  Arctic  Circle.  In  honor  of  the  event  a  point  of  land 
on  Melville  Island,  near  by,  was  named  Bounty  Cape. 

The  weather  was  growing  severe,  the  nights  were  dark. 
and,  as  the  compass  was  useless,  progress  was  slow  and 
difficult.  Still,  it  was  hoped  that  exploration  could  be 
continued   for   some    weeks.     But   only   four  days   after 


46o  EARLIER  ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

crossing  the  meridian  which  they  had  been  so  anxious  to 
reach,  their  course  was  completely  blocked  by  solid  ice. 
After  waiting  about  a  fortnight  in  hope  that  the  barrier 
could  be  penetrated,  they  became  convinced,  not  only  that 
further  progress  was  impossible,  but  also  that  to  remain 
where  they  were  involved  great  and  immediate  danger 
that  the  ships  would  become  fast  in  the  ice.  It  was 
therefore  decided  to  return  as  far  as  Melville  Island  and 
attempt  to  enter  one  of  the  two  good  harbors  wliich 
had  been  observed  as  they  passed  a  few  weeks  before. 
Considerable  difficulty  was  experienced  in  reaching  the 
vicinity  of  the  western  harbor,  which  seemed  to  offer 
a  safer  retreat  than  the  other,  and  then  it  was  found 
necessary  to  cut  a  channel  more  than  two  miles  in  length 
and  wide  enough  to  admit  the  passage  of  the  ships, 
throuo^h  ice  that  averaged  seven  inches  in  thickness. 
This  difficult  task  accomplished,  the  ships  were  brought, 
on  the  26th  of  September,  to  a  safe  anchorage,  in  five 
fathoms  of  water,  at  a  point  near  the  beach.  Here  they 
were  destined  to  remain  until  August  of  the  following 
year. 

For  a  few  weeks  some  game  was  secured  by  hunting 
parties ;  but  as  the  weather  became  more  severe,  the  ani- 
mals that  were  suitable  for  food  migrated,  and  only  foxes 
and  wolves  remained  on  the  island.  Before  the  close  of 
October  the  mercury  sank  to  24°  below  zero,  and  it  be- 
came necessary  to  spend  most  of  the  time  on  board  the 
ships.  In  order  to  keep  his  men  cheerful,  and  help  while 
away  the  long  and  dreary  period  which  he  knew  must 
elapse  before  they  could  leave  the  spot  upon  which  they 
were  practically  imprisoned,  Parry  organized  a  theatrical 
party  which  gave  a  performance  every  two  weeks  during 


INTEREST  RENEWED  46, 

tlie  long  night  of  three  months  tliat  set  in  at  the  time 
this  unique  place  of  amusement  was  opened.  A  weekly 
newspaper  was  established,  and  served,  in  some  measure 
at  least,  to  take  the  attention  of  the  men  from  their  un- 
pleasant surroundings  and  keep  their  minds  active  and 
interested.  \\\  these  diversions,  and  by  the  regular  exer- 
cise on  the  decks  of  the  sliijjs,  which  was  required  by  the 
commander,  the  health  of  the  men  was  well  maintained. 
During  January  it  became  very  cold,  the  thermometer 
registering  from  30°  to  40°  below  zero  a  large  part  of  the 
month.  r\^bruary  brought  still  severer  cold,  55°  below 
zero  being  indicated  on  the  i6th,  but  it  also  brought  the 
sun.  March  gave  a  little  relief,  but  it  was  not  until 
the  last  of  April  that  there  was  a  rajiid  rise  in  tem|)era- 
ture.  With  the  increased  warmth  birds  and  quadrujK'tls 
returned  from  the  south,  and  hunting  expeditions  were 
made  with  the  double  purpose  of  giving  the  men  exercise 
and  of  increasing  the  food  supply. 

During  the  first  half  of  May  the  ice  was  cut,  and  on 
the  17th  of  that  month  the  ships  were  once  more  afloat, 
but  until  the  2d  of  August  they  remained  locked  in  the 
harbor  by  the  great  body  of  ice  that  lay  between  them 
and  the  open  water.  When  it  became  evident  that  con- 
siderable time  must  elapse  before  their  voyage  could  be 
resumed,  Parry  and  a  party  of  his  men  made  a  partial  ex- 
ploration of  Melville  Island.  On  most  of  the  area  the  s<-)il 
was  barren,  but  the  western  coast  had  some  vegetation 
and  a  sfreater  abundance  of  game.  Not  only  were  moss, 
^rass,  saxifrao-e,  and  dwarf  willows  found,  but  one  of  the 
party  was  surprised  and  delighted  by  securing  a  ranuncu- 
lus in  full  flower.  In  jUne  the  snow  thawed  rapidly  and 
walking    became   very  ditticult.     The    ravines,  too,  were 


462  EARLIER  ARCTIC  EXPLORATJOXS 

filled  with  torrents  of  water,  which  made  them  both  diffi- 
cult and  dangerous  to  cross. 

On  the  2d  of  August  the  body  of  ice  by  which  the 
ships  had  for  so  long  a  time  been  imprisoned  broke  up 
and  floated  awa)-.  The  voyage  was  resumed ;  but  on  the 
15th  of  the  month,  when  the  southwestern  extremity  of 
the  island  had  been  reached,  an  impassable  barrier  of  ice 
was  found.  Careful  observation,  from  a  high  point  of 
land,  led  to  the  belief  that  there  was  no  possibility  of 
advancing  in  that  direction,  and  a  search  for  a  passage 
farther  to  the  south  was  decided  upon.  This  proved  un- 
successful, and  the  expedition  returned  to  England.  In 
this  voyage  Parry  had  reached  a  spot  more  than  thirty  de- 
grees of  west  longitude  beyond  the  extreme  point  touched 
by  any  of  his  predecessors. 

At  the  time  the  expedition  commanded  by  Ross  was 
sent  out  to  discover  a  northwest  passage,  another,  under 
Captain  Buchan  and  Lieutenant,  afterward  Sir  John 
Franklin,  was  fitted  out  to  discover  the  North  Pole.  Two 
ships  were  provided,  and  instructions  were  given  to  pro- 
ceed into  the  Spitzbergen  seas,  and,  passing  between 
Spitzbergen  and  Greenland,  push  directly  for  the  Pole. 
The  weather  was  bad  and  the  ships  were  soon  separated, 
but  early  in  June  they  met  at  an  appointed  place  off 
Spitzbergen.  Learning  from  the  officers  of  whaling  ves- 
sels that  the  sea  to  the  west  was  filled  with  ice,  Captain 
Buchan  sailed  to  the  north  ;  l^ut  before  passing  the  north- 
western point  of  Spitzbergen  the  ships  became  fast  in  the 
ice,  and  for  thirteen  days  they  were  carried  to  the  south  at 
the  rate  of  about  three  miles  per  day.  After  getting  free 
they  made  another  attempt  to  proceed,  but  early  in  July 
they  were  again  imprisoned  in  the  ice.     Here  they  were 


INTEREST  RENEWED  463 

detained  for  three  weeks.  Inirther  efforts  to  pass  north- 
ward appearing  to  be  useless,  it  was  decided  to  give  up 
the  attempt  and  endeavor  to  pass  aloni;  the  eastern  ojxst 
of  Greenland.  They  were  soon  overtaken  by  a  violent 
gale ;  and  as  one  of  the  shijjs  was  badly  injured,  it  became 
necessary  to  proceed  to  I\air  Hiiven  for  repairs.  When 
these  were  made  the  ships  started  on  their  homeward  voy- 
age and  reached  the  Thames  on  the  2 2d  of  October. 

In  order  to  increase  the  chances  of  success  in  the  effort 
to  learn  the  real  condition  of  the  northern  jjolar  regions, 
a  party  was  sent  out  by  the  British  Government,  in  1819, 
to  pass  overland  and  survey  the  iiorllicrn  coast  of  the  con- 
tinent from  the  mouth  of  the  Coppermine  River  to  Bering 
Strait.  This  party  consisted  of  five  persons :  Sir  John 
Franklin,  who  w^as  appointed  commander;  Dr.  Richard- 
son, a  naval  surgeon  ;  George  Back  and  Robert  HckkI, 
midshipmen;  and  John  Hepburn,  a  seaman.  They  left 
England  in  May  and  after  a  perilous  voyage  reached  York 
Factory,  a  station  on  Hudson  Bay,  .August  30.  Here 
they  w-ere  delayed  about  ten  days  in  making  necessar)' 
preparations  for  a  continuance  of  their  trip.  Following 
rivers  and  lakes  as  much  as  possible,  but  in  many  places 
finding  their  course  impeded  by  rocks  or  rapids,  they 
reached  another  station  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company, 
called  Cumberland  House,  on  the  2  2d  of  Octolx-r.  hav- 
ins:  traversed  a  distance  of  about  seven  hundred  miles. 

Notwithstanding  the  lateness  of  the  season  and  the 
increasing  intensity  of  the  cold,  I-'ranklin  felt  that  a  part 
of  the  company  ought  to  proceed  to  one  of  the  station.s 
on  Athabasca  Lake,  or  perhaps  even  farther  north,  where. 
he  had  been  informed,  guides  and  interpreters  could  l)C 
secured.     It  was  arrancred  that  Franklin,  with  two  of  the 


464  EARLIER  ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

party,  should  go  on,  and  that  the  other  two  members 
should  remain  where  they  were  until  spring.  Accord- 
ingly, Franklin,  accompanied  by  Back  and  Hepburn, 
started  on  the  iSth  of  January  and  arrived  at  Fort  Chipe- 
wyan,  a  station  at  the  northwestern  shore  of  Athabasca 
Lake,  near  the  end  of  March.  This  point  was  about 
eight  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  one  at  which  they 
had  left  the  remainder  of  tlicir  party.  The  journey  was 
tedious  and  dangerous.  While  walking,  they  were  obliged 
to  wear  snow-shoes.  These  weighed  two  or  three  pounds 
each  and  made  the  wearer  feel  that  he  was  dragging  "  a 
galling  and  stubborn  weight  at  his  feet."  The  cold  was 
intense ;  but  as  the  mercury  froze  in  the  bulbs  of  the  ther- 
mometers, its  degree  could  not  be  measured.  The  diffi- 
culties of  the  situation  were  increased  by  a  scarcity  of 
provisions,  and  terrible  suffering  was  experienced  before 
the  destination  of  the  party  was  reached. 

At  Fort  Chipewyan  Franklin  and  his  companions  re- 
mained until  July,  when  they  were  joined  by  Hood  and 
Dr.  Richardson,  who  had  been  left  at  Cumberland  House. 
Other  stations  had  been  communicated  with,  and  nearly 
twenty  Indians  and  Canadian  boatmen  had  been  engaged 
to  assist  in  the  expedition.  A  little  after  the  middle  of 
July  the  party  started,  in  hope  of  reaching  the  mouth  of 
the  Coppermine  River  before  going  into  winter  quarters. 
But  the  greatest  exertions  were  unavailing ;  and  on  reach- 
ing a  point  some  five  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  Fort 
Chipewyan  they  selected  a  spot  on  the  bank  of  a  frozen 
river,  where  they  erected  a  hut  to  which  they  gave  the 
name  of  Fort  Enterprise.  Here  the  party  killed  a  large 
number  of  reindeer  and  prepared  for  future  use  the  meat 
that  was  not  required  for  immediate  consumption.     Two 


INTEREST  KENKWKD  465 

trips  were  made,  one  in  a  canoe  and  the  other,  by  Frank- 
lin and  Dr.  Richardson,  on  land,  in  order  to  determine 
the  distance  to  the  Coppermine  River.  This  proved  to 
be  about  eighty  miles.  Hoth  parties  returned  in  sat-  • 
but  they  had  endured  great  suffering  from  cold  and  w.n.i 
of  food. 

It  soon  became  ajDparcnl  that  a  sufficient  quantity  of 
game  could  not  be  obtained  to  supply  the  company  with 
food  during  the  long  winter  that  was  then  setting  in.  and 
Back  proposed  to  lead  a  company  to  some  of  the  stations 
that  had  been  passed,  even  to  Fort  Chipewyan  if  nc(  o- 
sary,  and  hasten  the  delivery  of  provisions  that  had  Ix-en 
sent  up  from  Cumberland  House.  This  journey,  which 
was  marked  by  extreme  privations  and  attended  by  great 
dangers  of  various  kinds,  occupied,  with  the  return  trip. 
nearly  five  months.  During  this  time  liack  had  walked 
more  than  eleven  hundred  miles.  The  winter  was  exceed- 
ingly cold,  and  at  one  time  the  thermometer  indicated  57' 
below  zero.  Even  the  trees  were  frozen  through,  and  in 
trying  to  cut  them  nearly  all  the  axes  were  broken.  In 
December  the  food  supplies  got  very  low,  and  great  anxi- 
ety was  felt  on  this  account;  but  about  the  middle  of  Jan- 
uary a  quantity  of  provisions  sufficient  for  more  than  two 
months  was  received  from  one  of  the  other  stations.  \\  ith 
the  opening  of  spring  reindeer  appeared,  and  danger  from 
starvation  was  passed  for  a  few  months,  at  least. 

As  the  weather  grew  milder,  preparations  for  the  on- 
ward journey  were  begun.  Before  the  camp  was  broken 
arrangements  were  made  with  an  Indian  chief,  who  had 
been  with  them  for  some  time,  to  bring  a  supply  of  pnv 
visions  to  the  fort  before  September,  in  order  that,  if  they 
returned  that  way,  they  would  not  be  in  want  of  food  for 
30 


466  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

the  next  winter.  Early  in  June  tlie  first  party,  led  b\'  Dr. 
Richardson,  started.  On  the  14th  of  the  month  F"ranklin 
and  the  remainder  of  the  force  left  the  fort,  taking  with 
them  three  canoes,  which  were  drawn  over  the  snow  and 
ice  by  men  and  dogs.  Traxelling  was  difificidt  and  provi- 
sions were  scanty.  Se\'eral  of  the  men  became  lame,  and 
in  order  to  li^'hten  the  load  one  of  the  canoes  was  left 
on  the  way.  Franklin  and  some  of  his  com])anions  fell 
through  the  ice  and  narro\^■ly  escaped  being  drowned. 
On  the  I  St  of  July  the  Coppermine  River  was  reached 
and  the  canoes  were  launched  upon  its  waters.  Naviga- 
tion-was difficult  and  perilous;  but  on  the  i8th  of  the 
month  the   mouth   of  the  river  was  reached,  and  a  Qrreat 

O 

polar  sea  stretched  out  before  them.  On  the  way  they 
had  secured  some  salmon,  and  also  killed  se\'eral  musk 
oxen,  but  even  with  these  additions  their  stock  of  provi- 
sions was  small.  The  distance  travelled  from  Fort  Enter- 
prise to  this  point  was  three  hundred  and  thirty-four  miles. 
For  more  than  one  third  of  this  distance  it  had  been  ne- 
cessary to  drag  the  canoes  and  baggage  over  the  snow  and 
ice.  Yet  after  all  the  time  they  had  spent,  the  sufferings 
they  had  endured,  and  the  dangers  they  had  encountered, 
thev  had  only  reached  what,  when  the  main  purpose  of 
the  work  was  considered,  was  the  real  starting-point  of  the 
expedition. 

After  a  brief  stop  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  the  jDarty  of 
twenty  men,  in  two  canoes  and  with  provisions  for  only 
fifteen  days,  started  toward  the  east.  For  four  days  they 
kept  near  the  coast.  This  had  considerable  vegetation, 
and  the  water  was  comparatively  free  from  ice.  They 
then  came  to  a  rugged  ])oint  which  they  doubled.  In  a 
short  time  they  were  hemmed  in  by  the  ice,  in  which  they 


INTEREST  RENE  WED  467 

were  detained  for  sexeral  days.  Some  of  the  men  went 
on  shore  and  succeeded  in  killing  a  few  deer  to  eke  out 
their  scanty  supi)ly  of  provisions.  As  soon  a.s  |x)s.sible  the 
voyage  was  renewed.  Cai)c  Katcr  was  rounded,  and  the 
canoes  passed  into  tlic  open  sound.  An  exploring  party 
was  sent  on  sliore,  in  hope  that  an  Hskimo  village  could 
be  found ;  but  the  spot  was  too  barren  to  be-  inh.ibitrd 
even  l)y  the  hardy  natives  of  the  polar  region-. 

Passing  along  the  coast,  they  came,  on  the  10th  of  Au- 
gust, to  open  water,  which,  to  their  great  di.sapiK)intment, 
they  found  was  only  a  large  bay.  This  was  named  after 
Lord  Melville.  They  were  still  far  from  RepuLse  Bay, 
which  they  had  hoped  to  reach.  Their  canoes  were  in 
bad  condition,  their  stock  of  {provisions  was  ahnost  ex- 
hausted, but  little  game  could  he  secured,  and  the  rapid 
approach  of  the  terrible  Arctic  winter  was  heralded  by 
unmistakable  tokens.  A  long  distance  had  been  travelled. 
but  the  route  was  circuitous  and  the  extreme  jxiint  ri-.iched 
was  in  latitude  68"  30'.     A  headland  on   the   -  l  the 

bay  was  named  Point  Turnagain.  Here  the  effort  to  con- 
tinue explorations  was  abandoned,  and  it  was  decided  to 
return  to  Fort  Enterprise. 

The  lateness  of  the  season  made  it  impossible  to  return 
by  the  way  they  came.  In  order  to  shorten  the  distance 
and  diminish  the  danger,  it  was  thought  l)est  to  pass  for 
some  distance  up  Hood's  River,  which  they  had  recently 
discovered,  and  then  proceed  overland  in  as  direct  .1 
course  as  possible.  They  halted  at  a  magnificent  cataract, 
which  they  named  Wilberforce  Falls.  This  |x)int  was 
about  one  hundred  and  iift\-  miles  from  Fort  Enterprise 
Here,  in  order  that  they  might  be  more  easily  carried,  two 
small  canoes  were  made  from  the  larger  ones  which  they 


468  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

had  used  thus  far.  Other  preparations  for  the  overland 
trip  were  completed,  and  on  the  ist  of  September  the 
party  set  out  on  what  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most 
terrible  journeys  of  which  there  is  either  record  or  tradi- 
tion. 

The  party  had  proceeded  only  about  twelve  miles  when 
they  were  overtaken  by  a  heavy  snow-storm  and  compelled 
to  halt  for  two  days.     They  covered  themselves  with  their 
blankets,  but  could  obtain  neither  fuel  nor  food.     When 
the  storm  abated  they  renewed  their  journey,  which  was 
rendered  still  more  diiificult  by  the  snow  which  had  just 
fallen.     The  boatmen  complained  of  the  labor  of  carry- 
ing the  canoes,  and,  after  a  time,  either  through  accident 
or  design,  allowed  one  of   them  to  be  broken  by  a  fall. 
As  it  was  injured  beyond  repair,  this  canoe  was  used  for 
fuel.     Intense  suffering  made  these  men  utterly  reckless. 
In  spite  of  all  that  the  leaders  could  say,  they  abandoned 
the  other   canoe,  and  even  threw  away  their  fishing-lines. 
For  three  weeks  the  party  made  what  progress  they  could 
through  a  most  desolate  region.     They  not  only  suffered 
from  cold  and  weariness  and  weakness,  but  most  of  the 
time  they  were  on  the  verge  of  starvation.     For  days  at  a 
time  they  had  no  food  except  a  nauseous  and  almost  indi- 
gestible species  of  lichen,  and  they  were  even  reduced  to 
the  extremity  of  eating  their  old  shoes.     At  length  they 
reached  the  Coppermine   River,  but   it  was  several  days 
before  they  could  construct  a  raft  upon  which  they  were 
able  to  cross.     As  some  of  the  men  were  too  weak  and  ill 
to  proceed,  the  party  was  compelled  to  divide.     Several  of 
the    boatmen   perished    from    hunger  and    exposure,  and 
Hood  was  murdered  by  one  of  the  Indians. 

Back  was  the  first  to  reach  the  fort.     Instead  of  find- 


INTEREST  RENEWED  ^69 

ing  a  supply  of  jjiovisions,  as  had  been  promiNcd.  the 
building  was  empty.  Leaving  a  note  stating  that  he  had 
gone  in  search  of  the  Indians  who  had  been  dcjK-ndcd 
upon  to  furnish  supj^lies,  he  continued  his  toilsome  jour- 
ney.  Franklin  and  five  companions  reached  the  desolate 
fort  on  the  nth  of  October,  and  nearly  three  wcek^  later 
Dr.  Richardson  and  Hepburn  arri\ed.  Old  .skins,  liones, 
and  lichens  were  used  for  food  until  the  jlh  of  November. 
when  some  Indians,  who  had  been  sent  by  Hack,  brought 
a  quantity  of  provisions.  About  a  week  later  the  journey 
was  resumed.  Fort  Chipewyan  was  reached  in  safety,  and 
here  the  party  remained  until  the  following  June.  The 
next  month  they  reached  York  Factory,  and  the  difficul- 
ties and  dangers  of  their  most  remarkable  journey  were  at 
an  end. 

The  fact  that  Parry  had  failed  to  discover  the  North- 
west  Passage  was  not  regarded  as  proof  that  it  did  not 
exist.  Neither  did  it  diminish  confidence  in  the  zeal  or 
the  competence  of  the  commander  himself.  So  when  he 
expressed  an  opinion  that  by  commencing  explorations  at 
a  lower  latitude  the  desired  opening  could  be  found,  the 
government  placed  him  in  command  of  another  expedi- 
tion. 

In  May,  1821,  with  two  ships  and  a  transport  loaded 
with  provisions  and  other  necessities.  Parry  again  set  sail 
from  England.  The  entrance  to  Hudson  Strait  was 
reached  early  in  July.  At  this  point  the  transport  was 
unloaded  and  sent  home.  Strong  currents  were  soon 
encountered,  and  the  ships  narrowly  escaped  destniction 
by  enormous  icebergs.  In  September  Repulse  Bay  was 
reached,  and  found  to  be  clear  of  ice.  Leaving  the  bay. 
Parry  proceeded,  in  accordance  with  his  instructions  to* 


470  EARLIER  ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

explore  the  coast  line.  This  work  was  continued,  under 
many  difficulties,  until  it  became  imperative  to  seek 
winter  quarters.  These  were  found  on  the  shore  of  a 
small  island,  and  the  ships  were  soon  fast  in  ice.  Here 
Parry  adopted  the  same  means  for  keeping  his  men  cheer- 
ful and  contented  that  had  been  tried  on  his  previous 
voyage,  and  with  an  equal  degree  of  success.  A  party  of 
Eskimos  living  near  by  made  frequent  trips  to  the  vessels, 
and  the  officers  also  visited  the  snow  huts  of  these  peculiar 
people. 

It  was  not  till  the  8th  of  July  that  the  expedition  was 
able  to  proceed,  and  even  then  it  was  necessary  to  do  a 
great  amount  of  work  in  getting  the  ships  out  of  the  ice. 
A  little  more  than  a  week  later  they  approached  an 
elevated  region  which  they  hoped  would  prove  to  be  the 
northern  shore  of  the  strait ;  but  when  its  entrance  was 
reached  they  were  greatly  disappointed  to  find  an  impass- 
able barrier  of  ice.  After  waiting  nearly  four  weeks 
in  hope  that  an  opening  would  be  made,  it  was  decided 
to  take  observations  on  land.  A  party  proceeded  to  the 
northern  point  of  the  peninsula  near  which  their  progress 
by  water  had  been  checked,  and  discovered  a  strait  in 
which  there  was  a  strong  current  and  considerable  loose 
ice.  Returning  to  the  ship,  an  effort  was  made  to  reach 
this  strait,  but  it  proved  unsuccessful.  In  this  neighbor- 
hood another  winter  was  spent,  and  the  ships  were  not 
again  afloat  until  past  the  middle  of  August.  Several  of 
the  crew  had  become  ill,  and  Parry  reluctantly  sailed  for 
England. 

Soon  after  reaching  home  Parry  had  a  dangerous  ill- 
ness;  but  in  1824  he  was  ready  to  take  up  his  work  again, 
and  was  sent  out,  with  the  two  ships  used  on  the  voyage 


INTEREST  REXE  If  EI)  ^^ , 

just  described,  to  exploiv  IMiiuc  Kcircnts  Inlet,  in  ho|Ki 
that  it  would  lead  to  an  open  sea.  The  expedition  left 
England  in  May,  and,  after  encountering  many  dangers, 
arrived  late  in  September  at  the  point  where  they  had 
been  compelled  to  halt  in  iSic;.  Near  here  a  harlxir. 
which  was  named  Port  Bowen.  was  found,  and  I'arry 
made  preparations  to  pass  his  fourth  winter  in  the  Arctic 
regions.  It  was  a  dreary  season,  and  in  some  rcsi)ects 
proved  even  more  tedious  than  any  of  its  predecessors. 
On  the  1 8th  of  July  the  ships  were  again  free  and  the 
voyage  was  resumed.  In  a  short  time  large  bodies  of  ice 
were  encountered,  and  one  of  the  ships  was  so  badly  in- 
jured that  it  had  to  be  abandoned.  The  crew  was  taken 
on  board  the  other  ship,  which  at  once  returned  to  Eng- 
land. 

Three  other  expeditions  were  sent  from  England  at 
about  the  time  that  Parry  started  for  Prince  Regent's 
Inlet.  Of  these,  one  was  commanded  by  Captain  Lyon, 
who  was  instructed  to  make  a  more  thorough  sur\*ey  than 
had  yet  been  attempted  of  the  coast  as  far  as  Point  Turn- 
again.  Another  was  led  by  Franklin,  with  orders  to  pass 
down  the  Mackenzie  River  to  the  sea,  and  then  proceed 
along  the  coast  to  Bering  Strait.  The  other  was  com- 
manded by  Captain  Beechey,  who  was  to  j)ass  around 
Cape  Horn,  proceed  to  Bering  Strait,  and  continue  his 
voyage  to  Kotzebue  Sound,  where  he  was  to  meet  the 
expedition  led  by  Franklin.  The  results  of  this  r-  —  '-— d 
effort  were  very  meagre.     Captain    Lyon  was  ■  •  n 

by  storms  and  encountered  vast  drifts  of  ice,  and  when 
some  eighty  miles  distant  from  Repulse  Hay  was  obliged 
to  give  up  the  enterprise.  Franklin  and  his  party  passed 
the  winter  at  Great  Bear  Lake.     In  the  spring  they  sailed 


472  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

down  the  Mackenzie  River  to  the  point  where  it  separates 
into  different  channels.  The  party  then  divided.  One 
detachment,  under  Dr.  Richardson,  passed  to  the  east, 
in  order  to  explore  the  coast  as  far  as  the  Coppermine 
River.  The  other,  led  by  Franklin,  went  to  the  west,  in 
hope  of  reaching  Icy  Cape  and  meeting  Captain  Beechey. 
The  former  party  accomplished  its  purpose  with  but  little 
difficulty,  and,  returning,  reached  their  winter  quarters  on 
the  ist  of  September.  They  saw  a  large  number  of  birds 
of  various  kinds,  and  at  one  point  were  greatly  annoyed 
by  mosquitoes. 

Franklin  and  his  party  had  a  much  severer  experience. 
Unfriendly  Eskimos  made  them  much  trouble,  and  they 
were  delayed  by  fogs  and  storms.  By  the  middle  of 
August  the  cold  had  become  severe  and  the  men  were 
suffering  greatly  from  weariness  and  exposure.  It  was 
therefore  necessary  that  they  at  once  return  to  the  house 
at  Great  Bear  Lake.  The  extreme  point  reached  was 
named  Return  Reef.  It  was  afterward  learned  that  Cap- 
tain Beechey  was  then  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
away.  The  second  winter  was  passed  at  the  lake.  It 
proved  very  severe.  At  one  time  the  temperature  was 
58°  below  zero.  With  the  approach  of  mild  weather  the 
party  returned  to  England.  During  the  summer  the  ship 
under  Captain  Beechey  reached  the  appointed  place  and 
remained  as  long  as  the  weather  would  permit ;  but  as  they 
had  already  returned  to  England,  no  trace  of  Franklin 
and  his  companions  could  be  found. 

Although  he  had  been  repeatedly  bafHed  in  his  Arctic 
expeditions,  Parry  was  not  discouraged.  Scoresby  had 
suggested  that  by  constructing  boats  in  such  a  manner 
that  they  could  also  be  used  as  sledges,  it  might  be  possi- 


INTEREST  REAEWED  ^^^ 

blc  to  reach  the  P.,Ic  by  passin.ir  over  the  ice  I'arry 
accepted  this  idea  and  presented  it  to  the  attention  of  the 
government  officer...  It  nK-t  tlK-ir  approval  and  u-as 
promptly  put  into  execution.  Tuo  boat.s  were  built •  and 
with  the  //cr/a,  one  of  the  sh\ps  which  Ik-  had  previously 
commanded.  Parry  set  out  on  his  fourth  expediti.»n. 

In  1S27  the  ship  was  sailed  to  the  north  coa>t  of  Spitz- 
bergen,  where  it  was  left  in  a  safe  harbor.  On  the  22d 
of  June  the  men  took  to  the  boats.  Three  days  later 
they  reached  the  ice,  but  it  proved  to  be  very  roujrh  and 
was  intersected  by  numerous  channel>.  Pn.irrJ^s  wo-s 
extremely  slow  and  toilsome.  Rains  were  frequent  and 
there  were  hea^•y  falls  of  snow.  Dense  fogs  cau>ed  many 
delays.  At  length,  finding  that  they  were  being  carried 
south  by  the  drifting  of  the  ice  in  the  water,  fa-ster  than 
they  w^ere  proceeding  north  on  its  surface,  it  wa.s  decided 
to  return  to  the  ship.  71iis  was  only  one  hundred  and 
seventy- two  miles  distant,  although  they  had  actn.O'N 
travelled  two  hundred  and  ninety-two  mile>.  The  n..-- 
northern  point  reached  was  82'  45',  which,  so  far  as  was 
certainly  known,  was  the  highest  latitude  that  had  then 
been  reached  b}'  man. 

In  1829  Sir  John  Ross,  whose  voyage  in  iSiS  had 
been  so  barren  of  results  and  had.  brought  upon  hinj«.eli 
not  a  little  adxerse  criticism,  proceeded  to  the  |)olar  re- 
gions in  a  small  steamship  that  had  been  placexl  at  his 
disposal  for  this  purpose  by  his  friend  Sir  Felix  Booth. 
This  ship,  named  the  ]^icton\  was  commanded  by  James 
Clark  Ross,  a  nephew  of  Sir  John.  It  wxs  the  first 
steamer  ever  used  in  Arctic  exploration.  Lancaster 
Sound  was  reached  in  August.  The  voyage  u*as  con- 
tinued to  what  is  known  as  the  dulf  of  Boothia,      Here 


474  EARLIER  ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

a  sheltered  position  was  found,  which  was  named  FeHx 
Harbor,  where  winter  quarters  were  taken.  When  spring 
opened,  various  land  journeys  were  made.  Not  until 
September  did  the  ship  get  afloat,  and  it  had  proceeded 
only  about  three  miles  when  it  again  became  entangled 
in  the  ice.  Here  it  remained  until  the  following  Au- 
gust. On  the  28th  of  the  month  the  ship  was  again  free. 
But  the  wind  soon  arose,  the  weather  suddenly  became 
cold,  and  when  they  had  sailed  only  four  miles  the}'  were 
once  more  firmly  surrounded  by  ice.  Here  they  remained 
till  the  spring,  when,  on  account  of  the  failing  health  of 
the  men,  the  small  quantity  of  provisions  on  hand,  and  the 
great  uncertainty  as  to  when  a  free  passage  through  the 
ice  could  be  found,  it  was  resolved  to  abandon  the  ship. 

After  a  wearisome  and  dangerous  journey  the  party 
reached  the  spot  where  the  Fury  had  been  wrecked  in 
Parry's  third  voyage.  Here  they  found  a  quantity  of 
provisions  that  had  been  saved  from  the  ship,  and  here 
they  passed  a  most  miserable  winter.  There  was  great 
sufferine  from  cold  and  illness,  and  several  of  the  men 
died.  Early  in  the  summer  of  1833  the  survivors  re- 
sumed their  journey.  About  the  middle  of  August  open 
water  was  reached,  and  the  party  took  to  their  boats. 
Twelve  days  later  two  ships  were  sighted.  On  one  of 
these  their  signals  of  distress  were  observed.  This  ship 
proved  to  be  the  Isabella,  which  Ross  himself  had  once 
commanded.  The  weary  explorers  were  taken  on  board 
and  given  every  possible  means  of  comfort.  On  the  iSth 
of  October  the  rescued  party,  all  of  whom  had  long 
before  been  given  up  for  dead,  arrived  at  England.  The 
principal  result  of  this  expedition  was  the  reaching  and 
determining  of  the  exact  location  of  the  North  Magnetic 


INTEREST  RENEWED  4^5 

Pole.  This  was  accomplished  by  James  Ross  in  April 
1832. 

As  year  after  year  passed  and  no  tidings  from  Rojis 
were  received  in  England,  great  anxiety  was  felt  for  his 
safety.  A  fund  was  raised  in  order  to  fit  out  an  ex|H.-di- 
tion  to  search  for  him,  and,  if  he  could  be  found,  give  him 
needed  relief.  The  government  aided  the  movement; 
and  Back,  who  had  accompanied  Franklin  to  the  north 
and  had  since  been  promoted  captain,  was  placed  in 
command.  In  February,  1833,  he  sailed  from  England. 
With  his  party  he  reached  Fort  Chijjewyan  on  the  29th 
of  July,  and  about  a  fortnight  later  arrived  at  a  station  on 
Great  Slave  Lake.  Here  two  jjarties  were  formed  to 
explore  the  region,  in  hope  of  finding  a  navigable  river 
upon  which  the  journey  could  be  continued.  On  the 
approach  of  cold  weather  they  returned  to  the  lake, 
where  a  house,  which  they  named  Fort  Rt'li.incc  u.i> 
built,  and  where  they  passed  the  winter. 

The  season  proved  to  be  terribly  severe.  On  the  17th 
of  January  the  thermometer  registered  70"  below  zero. 
Food  was  scanty  and  it  was  imjiossible  to  secure  fish  or 
game  at  that  time.  A  large  numlx^r  of  Indians  flocked 
to  the  house  ;  and  though  a  little  food  was  distributed 
among  them,  many  perished  from  hunger.  On  the  25th 
of  April  the  party  were  greatly  cheered  by  the  arrix'al  of  a 
messenger  with  the  news  that  Ross  had  reached  England 
in  safety.  This  left  them  free  to  make  further  explora- 
tions, which  was,  indeed,  a  secondary  object  of  the  exjK*- 
dition.  On  the  7th  of  June  the  house  was  closed,  and 
the  party  proceeded  to  the  Great  Fish  River,  which  has 
since  been  named  aftci-  I'.ack.  of  which  they  made  a  care- 
ful examination.     After  an  absence  of  about  four  months 


476  EARLIER  ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

they  returned  to  Fort  Reliance,  where  they  passed 
another  winter.  In  the  following  March  the  homeward 
trip  was  commenced,  and  in  September  the  party  arrived 
in  England. 

In  1836  the  British  Government  equipped  another  ex- 
pedition to  continue  the  exploration  of  some  of  the  coast 
lines  that  had  been  partially  surveyed.  Back  was  placed 
in  command  of  the  ship  Terror,  on  which  he  sailed  in 
June.  The  party  was  doomed  to  disappointment.  They 
hoped  to  winter  in  Repulse  Bay ;  but  before  reaching  that 
point  they  encountered  a  violent  storm,  by  which  they 
were  driven  back  for  quite  a  distance,  and  ere  long  the 
ship  was  caught  in  a  mass  of  ice.  Much  of  the  time 
they  were  driven  by  the  wind,  or  carried  by  the  current, 
with  the  great  body  of  ice  in  which  they  were  wedged  as 
in  an  enormous  vise,  and  they  were  often  in  imminent 
danger  of  destruction. 

The  ship  did  not  get  free  until  nearly  the  middle  of 
July.  It  had  been  seriously  damaged,  and  an  immediate 
return  to  England  was  the  only  course  that  could  be 
adopted.  The  trip  was  made  with  all  possible  speed, 
but  the  ship  was  in  a  sinking  condition  when  port  was 
reached.  Although  the  expedition  had  failed,  it  was  not 
from  want  of  skill  or  effort.  This  fact  was  fully  recog- 
nized, and  soon  after  reaching  home  Back  was  knighted. 
The  survey  which  he  was  unable  to  make  was  completed 
tlic  following  year  by  Dease  and  Simpson,  who  were  sent 
out  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  and  who  made  exten- 
sive explorations  of  the  coast  of  Boothia  and  Victoria 
Land. 


CHAPTER    XWllI 

IIKKolC    KNDKAVOKS 

The  next  expedition  to  the  Arctic  seas  left  England  on 
the  26th  of  May,  1845.  The  government  had  fitted  out 
two  ships,  the  Erebus  and  the  Terror,  in  the  best  jxivsj. 
ble  manner,  and  also  provided  a  transjjort,  with  a  cargo  of 
food  supplies  and  general  stores,  to  accompany  them  as 
far  as  Davis  Strait.  The  Erebus  was  commanded  by  Sir 
John  Franklin,  who  was  chief  officer  (jf  the  ex|x.*dition, 
and  the  Terror,  by  Captain  Richard  Crozier.  The  com- 
bined crews  numbered  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  men. 
The  object  of  this  expedition,  as  defined  by  the  govern- 
ment ofificers,  was  "  the  accomplishment  of  a  northwest 
passage  by  sea  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean," 
and  very  minute  instructions  were  given  as  to  the  course 
which  was  to  be  pursued.  The  ships  and  trans|)ort 
arrived  safely  at  Davis  Strait.  Here  the  latter  Nva>  un- 
loaded and  at  once  returned  to  England.  The  two  ships 
then  went  on  their  way.  On  the  26th  of  July.  1845.  they 
were  seen  by  a  whaling  vessel  named  the  Pnnce  of 
Wales.  They  were  then  near  the  middle  of  HatTin  Hay. 
waiting  for  an  opening  in  the  ice,  which  had  blocked  their 
way.  From  that  time  they  were  seen  by  whitr  men  no 
more. 

It  was  expected  that  about  two  years  would  pass  after 
the  ice  fields  were  reached  before  word  could  be  rccciNX-d 
from  the  explorers.     When  this  period  had  elapsed  and 


478  EARLJER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

nothing  was  heard  from  the  party,  their  friends  in  Eng- 
land began  to  fear  that  some  disaster  had  befallen  the 
expedition.  As  weeks  and  months  went  by,  leaxing  the 
silence  unbroken,  the  feeling  of  apprehension  deepened. 
In  1848  the  British  Government  sent  out  three  expedi- 
tions in  search  of  the  missing  explorers.  Of  these,  one 
was  to  attempt  to  reach  the  Polar  Sea  b)-  wa)-  of  Bering 
Strait,  one  was  to  pass  down  the  Mackenzie  River  to 
the  sea  and  then  follow  the  coast  to  the  Coppermine 
River,  while  the  other  was  directed  to  pass  through  Lan- 
caster Sound  and  Barrow  Strait.  Two  ships  were  fitted 
.  out  for  the  expedition  first  named.  They  w^ere  the 
Hei'cild  and  the  Plover,  under  Captain  Henry  Kellett  and 
Commander  Thomas  E.  L.  Moore.  The  second  was  led 
by  Dr.,  now  Sir  John  Richardson,  who  was  accompanied  by 
Dr.  John  Rae,  who  had  already  won  fame  as  an  explorer 
in  the  service  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  The  third 
was  under  Sir  James  Clark  Ross  and  Captain  E,  J.  Bird, 
with  two  large  ships  named  the  Enterprise  and  the  Investi- 
gator. Full  directions  were  given  to  each  of  these  parties; 
and  as  all  points  that  Franklin  was  at  all  likely  to  reach 
were  to  be  visited,  it  was  hoped  and  believed  that  this 
united  effort  would  speedily  be  crowned  with  success.  The 
expeditions  made  some  valuable  additions  to  the  know- 
ledge of  the  regions  which  they  visited,  but  as  far  as  their 
principal  object  was  concerned  they  were  utter  failures. 

In  1849  the  British  Government  offered  a  reward  of 
;!^20,ooo  to  private  persons,  of  any  nationality,  who  should 
discover  and  rescue  the  missing  explorers.  This,  together 
with  a  deep  interest  in  the  fate  of  Franklin,  led  to  the 
formation  of  numerous  parties  to  prosecute  the  search. 
Lady  Franklin  also  provided  means  for  sending  men  and 


///■A'O/C  J.XDI.AIOKS 


479 


\ 


IIENKN     (;i;l\N|-  I 


vessels  to  aid  in  the  work.  In  1.S50  there  were  at  least 
twelve  ships,  besides  boat  and  sledge  jjartie^.  en£(ai(cd  in 
the  enterprise. 

Among  the  expeditions  was  one  from  the  United 
States.  This  was  mainly  fitted  out  by  Henr\'  Grinnell.  a 
New  York  merchant,  but  it  was  under  government  con- 
trol. It  was  commanded  b\;  Lieutenant  De  Mavcn.  who 
had  seen  service  in  an  exploring  expedition  in  the  Ant- 
arctic regions.  Two  ships,  the  Advance  and  the  Restuf, 
were  furnished.  They  left  New  York  on  the  24th  of 
May,  1850.  The  ])lan  j^roposed  was  to  proceed  to  Mel- 
ville Island,  pass  the  winter  wherever  they  were  caught 
in  the  ice,  and  then  follow  whatever  course  should  seem 
most  likely  to  lead  to  success. 


48o  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

The  ships  of  several  of  these  expeditions  came  near 
each  other  in  Baffin  Bay.  At  this  point  they  were  long 
delayed  and  were  often  in  extreme  peril  from  enormous 
masses  of  floating  ice.  Some  of  the  best  ships  spent  five 
weeks  in  sailing  northward  only  thirty  miles.  When  the 
course  became  more  open  the  ships  parted  company, 
goino^  in  different  directions  in  order  to  make  the  search 
as  thorough  as  possible. 

On  the  23d  of  August,  1850,  the  first  trace  of  the 
missing  party  was  found.  This  was  at  Cape  Riley,  where 
the  crew  of  a  boat  from  the  British  ship  Assistance 
landed.  Several  articles  were  found  which  had  evidently 
belonged  to  Europeans,  but  they  could  not  be  identified 
with  the  Franklin  party.  This  was  followed  by  a  trip  to 
Beechey  Island,  about  three  miles  distant.  Here  was 
discovered  the  spot  w^here  Franklin  spent  the  winter  of 
1845-46.  The  graves  of  three  men  who  had  died  during 
that  season  were  also  found.  These  were  marked  by  oak 
boards  upon  which  the  names  and  ages  of  the  deceased 
had  been  inscribed.  Careful  search  was  made  by  parties 
from  three  of  the  vessels  which  were  near  the  island,  but 
nothing:  could  be  found  to  indicate  in  what  direction 
Franklin  intended  to  proceed  when  he  left  the  camp.  It 
was  ascertained,  however,  that  during  the  winter  his  ships 
had  been  fast  in  the  ice  a  little  south  of  Beechey  Island. 

About  the  middle  of  September  the  vessels  engaged  in 
the  search  were  ice-bound,  and  the  work  was  necessarily 
suspended.  When  spring  opened  sledging  expeditions 
were  formed  to  prosecute  the  search  on  land.  Twelve 
parties  were  organized.  One  of  these,  under  Lieutenant 
McClintock,  travelled  seven  hundred  and  sixty  miles. 
The  others  covered  lesser  distances.     Great  suffering  was 


HEROIC  KXDKAVOKS  ^g, 

expcricncccl   from  tokl  aiul   fatigue,  and  fmc  nf  the  men 
died    from   cxluiii.slioii.      One  of   the   pai'  hed   the 

spot  where  Parry  had  encamped  in  1.S20,  and  another  di*. 
covered  a  wide  strait   of   ojK'n   water,  which  \ 

Victoria  Channel,  but  no  trace  of    I'Vanklin  ...    ^ll^  ,ncn 
was  found. 

Although  the  numerous  e.\i)editions  which  had  Ixx-n 
sent  out  were  utter  failures  as  far  as  the  accomplihhmcnt 
of  their  main  j^urpose  was  concerned,  some  very  im|X)r- 
tant  results  in  other  lines  were  secured.  The  m()>t  notice- 
able of  these  was  the  discovery  by  Captain,  aftenvard 
Sir  Robert  McClure,  commander  of  the  Hritisli  ship  In- 
vestigator, of  the  Northwest  Passage.  W\\^  great  event 
occurred  on  the  26th  of  October,  1.S50.  N'ear  aftei 
expeditions  followed  the  ones  which  have  been  nankcd. 
Several  shi|)s  were  lost.  Fleroic  efforts  were  made  by 
officers  and  men,  and  terrible  sufferings  were  endured, 
but  the  mystery  regarding  the  fate  of  I'l^ankiin  was  not 
dispelled. 

In  i>S53  Mr.  Grinnell,  aided  h\  several  individuals  and 
organizations,  fitted  out  his  second  exjx'dilion  to  the 
Arctic  regions.  The  ship,  which  was  named  tlie  Ad- 
vance,  was  commanded  by  Dr.  I:Iisha  Kent  Kane,  who 
had  accompanied  Lieutenant  De  1  laven  in  the  first  (irin- 
nell  expedition.  With  eighteen  men  lie  sailed  from  New- 
York  on  the  30th  of  May,  intending  to  pass  a.s  far  r 
as  possible  in  Baffin  Bay,  and  thence  proceed,  wit!-  ' 
and  boats,  on  land  and  water  in  such  direction  a-  : 

give  the  greatest  hope  of  succes.s.  After  reaching  Mel- 
ville Bay  there  was  great  ditificulty  and  danger  on  ac- 
count of  fogs  and  ice.  At  Littleton  island  a  quantity 
of  jM-ovisions  were  stored,  to  be  used,  in  case  of  necessity. 
31 


482  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPI.OKATIOXS 

on  the  return  trip.  Althoui^h  the  region  was  dreary  and 
desolate  in  the  extreme,  abundant  evidences  were  found 
that  it  had  once  been  the  seat  of  an  Eskimo  settlement. 

As  winter  approached,  the  sliip  was  brought  to  a 
sheltered  place,  which  was  named  Van  Rensselaer  Harbor, 
where  it  became  fast  in  the  ice  on  the  loth  of  September. 
Sledging  parties  were  sent  out  for  the  double  purpose  of 
establishing  depots  for  provisions  and  for  making  exi)lora- 
tions.  This  work  could  not  be  continued  after  the  20th 
of  November,  as  the  sun  then  passed  below  the  horizon 
to  remain  for  one  hundred  and  twenty  days.  The  winter 
was  extremely  severe.  The  temperature  was  often  40°, 
and  at  one  time  dropped  to  75°,  below  zero.  Most  of  the 
dogs,  of  which  a  large  number  had  been  procured  for 
sledging  purposes,  died  from  brain  disease  caused  by  the 
depressing  influences  of  intense  cold  and  continuous  dark- 
ness. Many  of  the  men  suffered  severely  from  scurvy, 
and  the  others  were  greatly  debilitated  by  their  close  con- 
finement and  the  hardships  which  they  had  endured. 

On  the  return  of  the  sun,  sledging  parties  were  formed 
and  the  work  of  exploration  \\-as  resumed.  These  jour- 
neys proved  extremely  difficult.  Two  of  the  men  died  as 
the  result  of  exposure  and  privations,  and  Kane  had  an 
illness  that  for  several  days  seemed  likely  to  prove  fatal. 
A  latitude  of  82°  27'  was  reached,  and  a  coast  line  was 
mapped  which  extended  nine  hundred  and  sixty  miles. 
To  complete  this  work  involved  not  less  than  two  thou- 
sand miles  of  walking  and  sledge  travel.  Among  the  dis- 
coveries which  were  made  were  a  magnificent  column  of 
greenstone,  four  hundred  and  eighty  feet  high,  rising  on 
a  pedestal  which  itself  towered  two  hundred  and  eighty 
feet    above    the    ground,    which    was    called    Tennyson's 


//AVtVvr  i:x/>i:.iioKs 


<»i 


DR.    K.    K.    KANE 


Monument;  and  an  enormous  wall  of  ice,  tlircc  liuiuiaf) 
feet  in  Jieight,  which  was  named  the  Great  Glacier  of 
Humboldt.  The  jDarty  carried  its  e.\j)Ioi*ati(»ns  to  C.i|h- 
Constitution,  in  latitude  S2  27'.  A  lofty  peak  on  the 
op])ositc  coast  of  Grinnell  Land  was  named  Mount  Kcl- 
ward  Parry. 

At  this  time  tlie  summer  was  well  advanced,  but  there 
were  no  indications  that  the  ship  would  get  clear  of  the 
ice.  The  stock  of  provisions  was  small,  and  the  health  of 
the  party  had  become  greatly  im|)aired.     A  careful  con- 


484  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

sideration  of  the  subject  showed  that  it  would  be  ex- 
tremely hazardous  to  attempt  to  pass  another  winter  in 
the  ship.  Therefore  Dr.  Kane  resolved  to  make  an  at- 
tempt to  communicate  with  some  English  ships,  belonging 
to  a  searching  expedition,  which  were  lying  off  Beechey 
Island.  With  five  of  the  strongest  men  he  started  in  an 
open  boat,  but  a  terrible  storm  w^as  encountered,  and  in 
spite  of  their  most  earnest  efforts  to  force  a  passage,  the 
ice  presented  a  barrier  which  they  could  not  break 
through.  They  returned  to  the  ship,  intending  to  hoist 
signals  that  would  brinor  to  their  aid  other  explorers,  if 
there  were  any  in  that  region. 

On  consulting  with  his  men.  Dr.  Kane  found  that  some 
of  them  believed  it  would  be  possible  to  escape  overland 
to  the  nearest  Danish  colony.  He  then  gave  each  and  all 
the  choice  of  making  such  an  attempt  or  of  remaining 
with  him  in  the  ship.  Nine  of  the  men  preferred  to  go. 
The  remainder,  more  wisely  as  it  proved,  decided  to  stay 
with  their  commander.  After  enduring  the  most  terrible 
sufferings,  those  who  had  left  found  their  way  back  to  the 

vessel. 

About  seventy-five  miles  distant  from  the  ship  was  an 
Eskimo  village.  The  inhabitants  were  friendly  to  the 
weather-bound  explorers.  For  a  time  communication  was 
kept  up,  and  some  food  supplies  were  obtained ;  but  with 
the  coming  of  continued  darkness,  and  a  great  scarcity  of 
meat  at  the  settlement,  this  source  of  relief  was  cut  off. 
By  March  all  the  men  were  suffering  from  scur\-\',  and 
more  than  half  of  the  number  were  seriously  ill.  The 
supply  of  fuel  was  exhausted,  and  lamps  were  used  for 
both  light  and  heat.  Everything  in  the  ship  was  turned 
black  with  soot.     Two  of  the  men  became  desperate  and 


JIKROJC  JiNDI'.AVORS  4S5 

attciiiptcd  to  desert.  One  of  tlie>e  was  successful,  but  he 
seems  to  iKue  re])eiUL-(l.  us  he  afterward  returned  with 
some  food  that  he  liad  obtained  from  the  Eskimos. 

Before  sprini;-  hatl  fairly  come,  preparations  were  com- 
menced for  abandoning  the  shij).  The  three  1  ■  -c 
repaired,  sledges  were  put  in  order,  and  a  suppls  ..i  <  i..iii. 
ing  and  bedding  was  got  in  readiness  for  use.  On  the 
17th  of  May,  after  the  reading  of  i)rayers  and  the  Scri|>- 
tures,  the  tiags  were  hoisted  and  haulctl  down.  Then  the 
seventeen  survivors  of  the  i)arty,  four  of  whom  were  too 
ill  to  walk  alone,  started  to  cross  the  ice  and  water  which, 
for  thirteen  hundred  miles,  lay  between  tli.m  ^^^^\  the 
north  of  Greenland. 

For  nearly  a  week  the  party  was  able  to  proceed  only  a 
little  more  than  a  mile  per  day.  Harly  in  June  one  of  the 
men  met  with  an  accident  which,  a  few  days  later,  resulted 
in  his  death.  Various  Eskimo  settlements  were  v:  ••  ' 
and  at  some  of  them  the  supply  of  provisions  was  rt,  . 
ished.  On  many  occasions  it  was  necessar)'  to  halt  for 
rest.  Various  accidents  occurred,  and  difficulty  and  dan- 
ger were  the  constant  com])anions  of  the  weak  and  wear)* 
party.  At  length,  to  their  great  relief,  open  water  was 
reached,  and  on  the  19th  of  June  they  took  to  their  boats, 
one  of  which  was  soon  swamj^ed.  It  was  a  fearful  vovniie. 
Hunger,  cold,  weariness,  and  exposure  to  storm««  :^X 

terrible  sufferings.  After  being  in  the  o|)cn  air  of  an 
Arctic  climate  for  eighty-four  days,  the  jjarty  reached  U|> 
ernavik,  the  seat  of  a  Danish  colony  on  an  island  off  the 
coast  of  Greenland.  Here  they  remained  until  the  6th  of 
September,  when  they  embarked  on  a  ship  bound  for  the 
Shetland  Islands.  But  at  Godhavn  an  .American  expe<ii- 
tion  that  had  come  out  to  search  for  them  was  seen,  and 


486  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

they  were  transferred  to  the  ships  which  had  been  sent 
for  their  rehef.  In  October  they  were  safely  landed  at 
New  York.  Many  important  sur\'eys  had  been  made  and 
much  valuable  information  concerning-  the  Arctic  regions 
had  been  gained,  but  not  tlie  slightest  trace  of  Franklin 
had  been  found. 

The  lons^  absence  of  Dr.  Kane  caused  a  i^^reat  deal  of 
anxiety  in  the  United  States,  and  in  February,  1855,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  was  authorized  by  Congress  to  send 
an  expedition  for  his  relief.  Two  ships,  the  Release  and 
the  Arctic^  were  equipped  and  Lieutenant  Hartstene  was 
placed  in  command.  Bafhn  Bay  was  reached  in  due  time, 
and  a  careful  search  was  made  at  the  numerous  points 
where  it  seemed  possible  that  Kane  might  be  detained. 
All  efforts  to  find  the  missing  men  proving  fruitless,  the 
ships  were  turned  toward  the  south  and  proceeded  to 
Upernavik  and  thence  to  Godhavn,  on  Disco  Island, 
where,  as  already  related,  the  explorers  were  found. 

Upon  his  return  home,  and  the  publication  of  his  report 
of  the  voyage,  Dr.  Kane  received  many  honors,  not  only 
from  his  countrymen  but  also  from  societies  and  individ- 
uals in  foreign  lands.  As  soon  as  possible  he  prepared  a 
complete  narrative  of  his  Arctic  explorations,  which  was 
published  in  book  form  and  made  him  famous  as  an 
author.  His  health,  which  had  never  been  firm,  had  suf- 
fered from  his  terrible  exposures,  and,  before  his  book  was 
completed,  rapidly  failed.  In  hope  of  obtaining  relief  he 
sailed  to  England  ;  but  his  strtMigth  declined,  and  after  a 
brief  visit  he  started  for  home  l^y  way  of  Ha\ana,  but  died 
in  that  city,  in  February,  1.S57,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty- 
seven  years. 

The  numerous  maritime  expeditions  that  were  sent  out 


to  discover  iM-anklin  were   supplemented   by  diligent  and 
extended   searcli    on    land.      Dr.    kae.  who  had   not  only 
seen  a  great  deal  of  serviee,  but  had  won  popular  rccogni- 
tion  as  an  exjXM-t  in  this  held,  spent  several  years  in  thiii 
arduous  work.      J,i   ,^54  he   met  a  band  of  Kskimos  who 
told  hin^  about  a  party  of  some  forty  men  who  had  slar\'cd 
to  death  at   a   place   far  west   of   where   they   then   were. 
I'our  winters  liad   passed   since  this  sad   event  .^-curred. 
The  men  were  drawing  sledges  and  a  boat  over  the  ice. 
Their  language  could  not  be  understood;  but  from  signs 
which   they  made  the   liskimos  believed  that   their  shi|>s 
had  been  wrecked,  that  their  provisions  were  scanty,  and 
that  they  were  going  toward  the  south  in  hope  of  finding 
game  on  which   they  could    subsist.      Later  in   the  same 
year  several  graves  were   found,  and   al.so   the   bodies  of 
about  thirty  persons  which   had   not  been  buried.     These 
were  on  the  mainland.     On  an  island,  not  far  away,  five 
other  bodies  were  found.     Some   of   the   bcxlies  were   in 
tents,  some  on   the  open  ground,  and  others  under  a  boat 
that  had  been  placed  so  as  to  form  a  shelter  from  stomis. 
Dr.  Rae  purchased  of  the  Eskimos  a  large  number  of  arti- 
cles that  had  belonged  to  the  party  and   that  completely 
identified  the  men  who  had  so  miserably  perished  as  mem- 
bers of  the  Franklin  expedition.      He  at  once  proceeded 
to   England,   and,  with    his   men,    received  the  rewarti  of 
^10,000  which  had  been  offered  to  those  who  first  should 
give  definite  information   regarding  the  fate  of  the  Frank- 
lin party. 

The  report  of  Dr.  Rae  caused  a  very  general  feeling  in 
England  that  no  member  of  the  T^-anklin  exjK'dition  could 
be  living,  and  the  Drilish  Government  declined  to  risk 
more  lives  or  expend   more  money  for  a  further  search. 


488  EARJJEK   ARCTIC  EXJT.OKATIONS 

Lady  Franklin,  however,  witli  tlie  assistance  of  a  few 
friends,  fitted  out  a  vessel,  called  the  Fox,  of  which  the 
experienced  explorer  Captain  McClintock  was  placed  in 
command.  The  ofificers  and  men  numbered  twenty-five 
The  ship  sailed  from  Scotland  in  July,  1857,  was  caught 
in  ice  in  Melville  Bay  on  the  i8th  of  August,  and  drifted 
until  late  in  April,  1858.  Beechey  Island  was  reached  on 
the  iith  of  August,  and  a  marble  tablet,  that  had  been 
sent  out  by  Lady  Franklin,  was  erected  at  the  graves  of 
the  men  who  had  died  at  that  place. 

The  second  winter  was  passed  in  a  haven  at  the  eastern 
entrance  of  Bellot  Strait.  Early  in  the  spring  journeys 
were  made  to  establish  depots  of  provisions.  Natives 
were  met  with  who  said  that  many  years  before  a  ship  had 
been  broken  up  by  the  ice,  that  the  crew  had  escaped,  had 
gone  toward  the  Great  Fish  River,  and  all  had  died  of 
starvation. 

On  the  2d  of  April,  1859,  the  spring  journey  com- 
menced. From  a  party  of  natives  news  was  obtained  of 
a  second  ship  that  had  drifted  on  shore,  and  several  relics 
were  purchased.  The  explorers  divided  into  two  parties, 
one  led  by  Lieutenant  Hobson,  the  other  by  Captain 
McClintock.  On  the  6th  of  May  Hobson  found  written 
records  of  the  Franklin  expedition.  The  first  entry  was 
dated  the  28th  of  May,  1847,  and  stated  that  the  j^arty 
had  passed  up  Wellington  Channel  and  returned  by  the 
west  side  of  Cornwallis  Lsland,  thus  having  completed  the 
discovery  of  the  Northwest  Passage,  of  which  they  had 
been  in  search.  They  were  then  in  winter  cjuarters  and 
all  were  well.  The  second  entry,  dated  the  25th  of  April, 
1848,  states  that  Sir  John  Franklin  died  on  the  nth  of 
June,  1847,  that  eight  other  officers  and  fifteen  men  had 


y/ A  /<  ( >  IC  KNDEA I  OJiS 


I.H^ 


DR.     ISAAC    I.    II  WIS 


died,  that  having  l)een   fast  in  ice  since  the   12th  dl    ~^ 
tember,  1846,  the  ships  Erebtis  and  Terror  were  deserted 
on  the  2 2d  of  April,  1848,  and  that  on  the  26th  of  April 
the    survivors    would    commence    a    journcx-    "^    'v»jh.'   of 
reaching  Back's  Great  Fish  River. 

Lieutenant    1  lol^son   j)roceeded    in   the  direction    indi- 
cated, and  found  liunian  skeletons,  a  boat  nearly  buried  in 
the   snow,   watches,   books,  and   numerous  other  a?" 
Captain   McClintock  also  reached  the   Ixiat.      h 
tion  with  what  had  alreadv  been   found,  these  d:  •  > 

confirmed  the  statements  of  Dr.  Rae,  and  proved  beyond 
doubt  that  after  leaving  the  sjjot  where  the  records  u-ere 
found  the  party  attempted  to  reach  the  Great  Fish  Riwr, 


49°  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXELORAIIOXS 

that  many  of  them  died  on  the  \va\-,  that  some  started 
to  return  to  the  sliip  and  lost  their  hves,  and  that  the 
remainder  reached  the  river,  but  while  waiting  for  the  ice 
to  break  they  all  j^erishcd  of  exposure  and  starxation. 
Such  was  the  terrible  fate  of  the  first  discoverers  of  the 
Northwest  Passage,  which  had  been  sought  for  hundreds 
of  years. 

Dr.  Isaac  I.  Hayes,  who  went  out  as  surgeon  with  the 
second  Grinnell  expedition,  under  Dr.  Kane,  was  exceed- 
ingly anxious  to  prosecute  further  search  in  the  Arctic 
regions,  and  endeavored  to  secure  the  organization  of 
another  party,  and  obtain  a  suitable  equipment  for  that 
purpose.  But  the  public  had  come  to  believe  that  no 
results  could  be  obtained  that  would  be  of  sufficient  value 
to  justify  the  risks  of  life  and  ])roperty  that  another 
expedition  would  inxolve.  Yet  his  zeal  was  so  great,  and 
he  so  forcibly  presented  his  views  in  lectures  which  he 
delivered  in  the  large  cities  of  the  United  States,  that 
considerable  interest  was  aroused  and  a  sufficient  sum  of 
money  was  secured  to  purchase  and  fit  out  a  vessel  for 
his  use. 

In  this  shi]),  the  name  of  which  was  patriotically 
changed  from  the  Spring  Hill  to  the  United  States, 
Hayes  sailed  from  Boston  on  the  7th  of  July,  i860. 
The  party,  all  told,  numbered  fifteen  persons.  The 
definite  objects  of  the  expedition  were  to  extend,  and  if 
possible  complete,  the  survey  of  the  northern  coast  of 
Greenland  and  Grinnell  Land,  and  continue  explorations 
in  the  direction  of  the  North  Pole.  The  Arctic  Circle 
was  reached  near  the  close  of  July,  and  the  entrance  to 
Smith  Sound  on  the  27th  of  August ;  but  winds  were 
contrary  and  the  ship  was  driven  back  three  times  before 


m-.ROIC  ENDKAIORS  4,, 

it  was  possible  to  proceed  to  any  great  distance  in  the 
strait.  i\  harbor,  which  was  named  Port  I'oulkc.  wa> 
fouiid  about  twenty  miles  south  of  where  Kane  wintered 
in  Rensselaer  Harbor. 

In  April,  with  twelve  of  his  strongest  men  and  a  num- 
ber of  dogs,  Hayes  started  on  a  sledge  journey.  ;    •      '     -r 

to  cross  the  sound   to  Grinnell    Land.     Twent\  : ,.<» 

of  ardous  toil  did  not  take  them  half  the  distance,  but  it 
utterly  disabled  several  of  the  men.  I'lnvilling  to  aban* 
don  the  project  while  there  was  a  possibility  of  succe»!i, 
Hayes  sent  all  but  three  of  his  men  back  to  the  ship. 
The  returning  j^arty  took  with  them  the  boat  that  had 
been  taken  in  hope  that  it  could  be  launched  on  an  ojkmi 
sea. 

With  his  three  com])anions,  two  sledi^es,  and  fourteen 
dogs,  the  resolute  leader  of  the  expedition  prcs.sed  on.  and 
two  weeks  after  the  parties  separated  he  reached  the 
land.  An  exploring  trip  along  the  coast  was  coti^'^i''^'  id 
In  less  than  a  week  one  of  the  men  bccan^ 
exhausted.  With  another  to  care  for  him,  he  was  left 
behind,  and  Hayes,  with  a  single  companion,  continue*! 
his  journey.  On  the  uSth  of  May  they  reached  Mount 
Parry.  Here  their  j^rogress  was  checked  by  rotten  ice 
and  fissures  which  could  not  be* crossed  without  a  bn.it. 
Observations  were  taken  which  showed  that  thi  n 

latitude  81°  35',  a  liiglier  ])oint  than  any  previous  ex- 
plorer had  reached  on  land. 

The  return  journey  was  extremely  ditncun.  uvn  ;ne  ship 
was  reached  on  the  3d  of  June.  Durini;  his  absence 
from  the  harbor  Hayes  had  travelled  thirteen  hundred 
miles.  In  July  the  vessel  was  free  from  i* c  Plans  had 
been  formed  to  sail  to  Grinnell  Sound,  in  order  to  make 


492  JiAKLIER  ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

further  cxj^lonilions,  Ijut  it  was  found  that  such  injuries 
had  been  sustained  during  tlie  winter  that  the  vessel 
would  not  be  safe  among  floating  masses  of  ice.  There- 
fore the  party  returned  to  Boston.  Only  one  man  had 
been  lost,  and  his  death  was  due  to  an  accident. 

In  the  year  i860,  Charles  Francis  Hall,  who  from  boy- 
hood had  been  deeply  interested  in  the  fate  of  T^ranklin, 
and  had  been  a  close  student  of  the  literature  pertain- 
ing to  the  Arctic  regions,  sailed  from  New  London, 
Connecticut,  in  a  whaling  vessel,  for  the  north.  A  boat 
which  had  been  specially  fitted  for  his  use  was  taken 
along.  His  plan  was  to  stop  at  some  suitable  point, 
organize  a  crew  of  Eskimos,  and  j^rosecute  a  search  for 
members  of  the  Franklin  expedition,  some  of  whom  he 
believed  had  reached  native  settlements  and  were  still 
living.  He  also  desired  to  survey  some  portions  of  the 
region  which  was  as  yet  unexplored.  Search  for  the 
Franklin  party  was  prevented  by  the  loss  of  the  boat 
soon  after  his  arrival  ;  but  he  found  various  relics  of  the 
Frobisher  expedition,  and  learned  that  the  body  of  water 
which  for  nearly  three  centuries  had  been  known  as 
Frobisher  Strait  was  actually  a  bay.  In  September, 
1862,  he  reached  New^  London  in  a  whaling  vessel. 
With  him  he  took  two  Eskimos,  or  Innuits,  Joe  and 
Hannah,  with  their  little  child.  The  latter  was  soon 
taken  ill  and  died. 

In  1864  Hall  sailed  again,  with  his  Innuit  companions, 
to  the  north.  He  had  acquired  considerable  knowledge 
of  the  Eskimo  language  and  customs.  His  plan  was  to 
live  with  these  people  two  or  three  years,  gain  their  confi- 
dence, and  then  secure  their  assistance  in  exploring  all 
the  region   in  which   survivors  of  the   Franklin  party,  if 


///■:/,•()/(•  /:a7)/':.ii'oa's 


40  \ 


■<^^^, 


such   there  were,  would  he  at  all  likely  to  be  found.     This 

expedition  covered  a  i:>er!od  of  fi\e  years.     Th« 

efforts  were  made  to  learn  the  truth  rei^ardiiv     '  ^ 

explorers.     For  a  long  time  Hall  was  very  h' 

ing  some  of  them  alive,  but  at  length  he  \ 

the    conclusion    that  the  last  of   that  ill-fated   party  had 

perished  several  years  before. 

In    1869    Hall    reached    home   and   was    received  with 


494  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIOXS 

ereat  honors.  He  then  made  a  viirorous  effort  to  secure 
an  expedition  for  the  purpose  of  discovering"  the  North 
Pole.  A  great  deal  of  interest  was  excited.  Congress 
made  an  a])i:)ro]jriation  for  the  purpose,  and  a  steamer 
named  the  Polaris  was  fitted  out.  Hall  was  aj^pointed 
commander  of  the  expedition.  A  scientific  corps,  to  take 
observations  in  accordance  with  instructions  from  the 
National  Academy  of  Sciences,  was  selected.  A  full 
complement  of  officers  was  chosen,  and  a  crew  of  fourteen 
men  was  secured.  Joe  and  Hannah,  the  Innuits  who  had 
pre\-iously  accompanied  Hall  and  had  rendered  him  in- 
valuable services,  were  also  members  of  this  expedition. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  3d  of  July,  1871,  the  Polaris 
sailed  from  New  London,  Connecticut,  on  her  final  voy- 
age. Smith  Sound  was  reached  without  special  adven- 
ture. Passing  through  Kennedy  Channel,  the  \essel 
entered  what  Kane  had  supposed  was  an  open  sea,  but 
which  proved  to  be  only  a  small  body  of  water.  This 
received  the  name  of  Polaris  Bay.  P"arther  on  a  strait 
was  disco\cred  which,  in  honor  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  who  had  used  his  influence  in  aid  of  the  expedi- 
tion, was  named  Robeson  Channel.  In  this  strait  a 
latitude  of  82°  16'  w^as  reached  on  the  30th  of  August. 
This  w^as  the  highest  latitude  yet  reached.  It  was  fifty 
miles  beyond  the  farthest  ]X)int  touched  by  Dr.  Hayes, 
and  nearlv  two  Inmdred  niiles  be}-ond  where  Dr.  Kane 
had  gone.  Here  progress  was  checked  by  ice,  and  for 
a  while  the  ship  was  carried  back  l)y  tlie  drift.  Hall  and 
some  of  liis  men  were  anxious  to  niake  further  efforts  to 
proceed,  but  some  of  the  subordinates  were  opposed  to 
this  course;  and  the  commander,  as  it  subsequently  ap- 
]X'ared,  unwisely  heeded  their  protests.     On   Septeml^er  3 


IIKKOIC   ENDRAIORS  ^j 

llic  .sln'i)  was  put  into  winter  (|uarlcrs  in  Polaris  IJay.  in 
a    Lovc    to    which     Mall    -avc    the  name  of   Thank  God 

Harbor. 

On  the  loth  of  October,  Hall,  wiui  liwce  coi- 
started  on  a  sledge  journey  for  the  piirposc  of  - 
the   adjoining;    rei^ion    and    .selecting;   the    most    i.  c 

route  for  the  expecHtion  to  tlie  l\)le,  which  he  intended 
to  make  in  the  sprin-'.  The  ordinary  difficulties  of 
travelling  in  that  region  were  encountered,  but  the  party 
returned  in  safety,  reaching  the  shij)  on  the  24th  of  Octo- 
ber.  They  had  attained  the  higliest  latitude  yet  reached. 
and  discovered  a  channel  which  they  expected  to  utilize 
when  the  northward  journey  should  be  resumed.  SiMin 
after  reaching  the  ship  Hall  was  taken  ill,  and  on  the  8th 
of  November  he  passed  away.  Thus  ended  the  life  of 
one  of  the  noblest  and  most  devoted  of  Arctic  explorers. 

It  was  rumored  that  Hall  had  been  poisoned,  but  a 
thorough  investigation  l3y  the  government  proved  that  he 
died  from  natural  causes.  His  body  was  buried  on  the 
shore  of  Polaris  Bay,  and  an  American  flag  was  placed 
over  his  grave. 

Captain  Buddington,  who  succeeded  to  the  command 
of  the  expedition,  had  little  desire  for  Arctic  explorations: 
and  though  some  short  journeys  were  made,  nothing  of 
importance  was  accomplished.  Toward  the  middle  of 
Auo^ust  the  homeward  vovaire  was  commenced.  After 
sailing  about  fifty  miles,  the  vessel  was  caught  in  the  ice 
and  narrowly  escaped  being  wrecked.  When  free,  the 
voyage  w^as  resumed,  but  in  a  short  time  a  field  of  float- 
ing ice  was  entered,  with  w  hich  the  shi|)  drifted  for  a  long 
distance.  During  the  night  of  October  15  a  gale  drove 
the  ice    upon  her  in  such  a  manner  as  to  threaten    her 


496  EARLIER  ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

» 

immediate  destruction.  The  captain  ordered  the  crew 
to  save  whatever  they  could.  Pro\isions,  clothing,  and 
various  other  materials  were  hurriedly  thrown  upon  the 
ice.  The  Eskimo  women  and  children  were  taken  off, 
and  several  of  the  men  left  the  vessel  to  move  the 
goods  to  as  safe  a  })lace  as  could  be  found.  Suddenly  the 
ship  broke  away  and  disappeared  in  the  darkness,  leav- 
ing nineteen  persons,  men,  women,  and  children,  adrift  on 
the  ice. 

Of  some  poles  and  lumber  which  had  been  thrown 
from  the  ship,  the  party  on  the  ice  constructed  a  rude 
house  in  which  they  took  up  their  abode.  The  stock 
of  provisions  was  small,  and,  though  a  few  seals  and  an 
occasional  bear  were  captured,  the  ])arty  were  constantly 
on  short  rations.  In  addition  to  the  weakness  caused  by 
insufificient  food,  they  suffered  terribly  from  the  depress- 
ing influence  of  severe  cold,  and  of  darkness,  which  lasted 
for  eighty-one  days.  Meanwhile  the  floe  upon  which 
they  were  encamped  was  rapidly  drifting  toward  the 
south.  On  the  iith  of  March  it  was  broken  up  by  a 
terrific  gale.  This  left  the  castaways  ujDon  a  compara- 
tively small  piece  of  ice,  as  far  as  area  was  concerned,  but 
fortunately  it  was  of  considerable  thickness.  This,  how- 
ever, gradually  wasted  away;  and  Captain  Tyson,  the 
leader  of  the  forlorn  party,  deemed  it  inipcrative  that  they 
take  to  their  one  remaining  boat  and  attempt  to  reach 
a  larger  and  firmer  field  of  ice.  This  was  safely  accom- 
plished, though  11  ot  without  great  difficulty  and  extreme 
danger.  Violent  storms  caused  them  great  suffering  and, 
by  preventing  the  capture  of  seals,  brought  them  to  the 
verge  of  starvation. 

On  the  20th  of  April  the  waves  swept  over  the  ice  and 


HEROIC  ENDKAIORH  49y 

carried  away  their  shelter,  toi^ether  with  nearly  all  the 
articles  which  they  had  thus  far  been  able  to  save.  Only 
by  the  most  desperate  et^orts,  continued  for  twelve  houn*. 
were  they  able  to  keep  the  boat  from  Ix'inj;  washed  awa\. 
Their  condition  was  now  even  more  pitiable  than  it  h.i<l 
previously  been ;  but  as  they  were  nearing  the  M;al-rishini; 
grounds  they  hoped  to  fall  in  with  a  vessel  that  would 
give  them  relief.  On  the  25lh  (.f  April  the  ice  became 
so  insecure  that  they  were  obliged  to  take  to  the  boat. 
A  few  days  later  a  sealing  vessel  was  seen,  but  either  the 
unfortunate  party  were  not  able  to  attract  the  attention  of 
those  on  board  or  else  the  ship  was  unable  to  get  through 
the  ice  which  lay  between  them.  After  this  two  other 
vessels  were  siojhted,  but  the  castawavs  remained  unseen. 

On  the  30th  of  April  deliverance  came.  Through  a  rift 
in  the  foa:  a  steamer  was  seen  near  bv.  Signals  from  the 
boat  were  observed  and  the  vessel  went  to  their  relief. 
In  a  short  time  the  almost  famished  party  was  taken  on 
board  the  ship,  which  proved  to  be  the  Tis^ress,  from 
Newfoundland,  which  was  on  a  cruise  for  seals.  On  the 
12th  of  May  the  rescued  party  reached  St.  John's.  The 
government  sent  a  steamer  for  them,  and  on  the  5th  of 
June  the  people  who  had  been  exposed  to  so  many  |K*ril>. 
had  so  many  hairbreadth  escapes,  and  endured  almo.st 
unparalleled  exposure  and  j^rivation.  arrived  at  \Va>h- 
ington. 

When  the  Polaris  was  carried  away  from  the  ice  it  had 
fourteen  persons  on  board.  Information  given  by  the 
party  rescued  from  the  ice  led  the  government  to  fit  and 
send  out  a  vessel  to  find  and  rescue  the  officers  and  crew 
of  the  ship  that  had  so  suddenly  disappeared.  On  the 
14th  of  July,  1S73,  the  Tigress,  under  Captain  Greer. 
32 


498  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

sailed  from  New  York  on  this  errand  of  mercy.  She  was 
accompanied  by  the  Jiifiiata,  a  smaller  vessel,  which  car- 
ried supplies  for  the  Tigress  and  which  w^as  also  designed 
to  aid  in  the  search.  About  the  middle  of  Auijust  the 
Tigress  reached  Littleton  Island,  near  which  the  Polaris 
was  last  seen  by  the  party  that  drifted  away  on  the  ice. 
Here  some  Eskimos  were  found  who  said  that  the  day 
after  the  separation  occurred  Captain  Buddington  had 
abandoned  the  ship.  With  some  lumber  from  the  vessel 
the  men  had  built  a  house  on  the  shore.  Here  they 
had  spent  the  winter.  Two  boats  w^ere  made,  and  in 
these  the  company  sailed  southward  in  the  spring.  Dur- 
ing a  gale  the  vessel  broke  loose  from  the  ice  in  w^hich  it 
had  been  entangled,  and,  after  drifting  for  a  while,  had 
gone  down  in  the  sea.  Many  articles  that  had  been  left 
at  the  winter  camp  w^re  secured  by  Captain  Greer. 

The  Juniata  proceeded  to  Newfoundland  and  commu- 
nicated the  facts  to  the  Navy  Department  at  Washing- 
ton. Instructions  to  continue  the  search  were  returned 
and  another  voyage  was  commenced,  but  news  w^as  soon 
received  from  a  British  vessel  that  the  crew  of  the  Polaris 
had  been  found.  After  the  departure  of  the  Juniata 
Captain  Greer  continued  the  search,  but  finding  no  trace 
of  the  missing  party  sailed  to  New  York,  where  he  learned 
that  Ca])tain  Buddington  and  his  men  had  been  rescued 
by  a  British  whaling  vessel  about  three  weeks  before  the 
relief  voyage  of  the  Tigress  was  commenced.  As  this 
ship  was  not  homeward  bound,  the  men  were  transferred 
to  other  vessels,  and  by  way  of  Scotland  at  length  reached 
New  York.  With  the  exception  of  their  noble  leader, 
Captain  Hall,  every  member  of  the  Polaris  expedition 
reached  home  in  safety.     Many  of  them  had  been  adrift 


in-.KOlC  KXDEAlOfiS  4^ 

on  floating  ice  for  oik-  luinclicd  and  ninety  days  and  all 
had   been   exposed   to  the  greatest  dangers  and  ha.. 
dured    the   most    tenihlL-   hardships.     Their  prc!*cr\*ation 
and    rescue    may   well    be    classed    with    the    miracles  of 
modern  times. 

Dr.  Petermann,  an  eminent  (ierman  geographer,  sent 
out  a  small  vessel  in  186S  to  prosecute  exploration  in  the 
Arctic  seas.  Captain  Koldewey  was  placed  in  command. 
The  crew  numbered  eleven  men.  (ireat  difficulties  were 
encountered    and    only    meagre    results    were    -  '  •   '      !. 

Soon  after  the  return  of  the  vessel  preparations  \sc c 

to  renew  the  work.  Pounds  were  secured,  two  ships,  the 
Germania  and  the  Haiisa.  were  fitted  out,  and  Captain 
Koldewey  was  appointed  commander.  Several  noted  sci- 
entists accompanied  the  expedition.  The  object  in  view 
was  to  penetrate  to  the  very  centre  of  the  Arctic  regions. 

The  ships  sailed  in  June.  Owing  to  contrary  winds  the 
Arctic  Circle  was  not  crossed  until  the  5th  of  July.  On 
the  20th  of  Jul}',  owing  to  a  misinterpretation  of  signals, 
the  ships  became  separated.  Cai)taiii  Hegemann,  of  the 
Hansa,  sailed  away  from,  instead  of  proceeding  toward, 
the  Germania^  as  Captain  Koldewey  intended.  On  the 
14th  of  September  the  Hansa  was  frozen  in.  The  danger 
that  she  would  be  crushed  api)eared  so  great  that  a  house 
was  built  upon  the  ice.  This  was  constructed  of  a  patent 
fuel  made  principally  from  coal,  in  the  form  of  bricks,  and 
was  held  together  by  a  mortar  made  of  water  and  snow. 
It  was  twenty  feet  long,  fourteen  feet  wide,  and  eight  and 
one  half  feet  high  at  the  ridge. 

Early  in  October  there  was  a  heavy  fall  of  snow  which 
completely  buried  both  the  house  and  the  ship.  On  the 
19th  of  the  month  there  was  a  terrific  gale,  the  pressure 


500  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

of  the  ice  upon  the  vessel  was  increased,  and  a  serious 
leak  was  started.  During  the  night  of  the  21st  of  Octo- 
ber the  ship  went  down.  A  fearfiil  winter  was  passed  in 
the  little  house.  Violent  storms  were  frequent  and  the 
cold  was  severe.  The  great  ice  field  upon  which  the  men 
were  located  was  drifted  about  at  the  mercy  of  wind  and 
wave.  On  the  7th  of  May  a  place  was  reached  from 
which  there  appeared  to  be  an  open  stretch  of  water  to 
the  shore.  The  boats,  which  had  been  saved  from  the 
ship,  were  launched,  and  after  almost  insuperable  obsta- 
cles had  been  overcome  the  party  reached  land.  Several 
islands  were  visited,  but  it  was  not  until  the  14th  of  June, 
1870,  that  the  weary  party  reached  a  human  habitation. 
On  that  date  they  arrived  at  Friedrichsthal,  a  station  of 
the  Moravian  missionaries  on  the  southwestern  coast  of 
Greenland,  and  early  in  September  the  entire  party 
reached  home.  They  had  drifted  more  than  eleven  hun- 
dred miles  on  the  ice,  and  had  been  preserved  through  a 
more  remarkable  series  of  perils  and  misfortunes  than 
almost  any  other  company  of  Arctic  explorers  who 
returned  to  their  native  land. 

After  losinof  sis^ht  of  the  Hansa,  the  Germania  followed 
the  coast  of  Greenland  as  far  north  as  latitude  75°  30', 
but  near  the  middle  of  August  was  obliged  to  turn  to  the 
south.  Winter  was  passed  off  Sabine  Island.  In  the 
spring  various  excursions  were  made  which  resulted  in 
valuable  scientific  and  geographical  discoveries.  Before 
the  work  which  they  hoped  to  accomplish  was  completed, 
a  leak  in  the  engine  boiler  made  it  necessary  for  the  party 
to  return  home.  This  voyage  was  completed  in  Septem- 
ber, 1870. 

In   1872  an  A ustro- Hungarian  expedition  was  sent  to 


HEROIC  ENDEAVOHS  501 

the  Arctic  regions.  It  was  commanded  by  I.ieutcfianl 
Payer,  who  had  not  only  distin<ruishcd  himself  in  ihc 
German  expedition  under  Captain  Koldcwcy.  but  who 
had  also  made  extensive  exploratit)ns  on  his  own  account. 
Captain  Weyprecht,  who  had  accomj)anicd  Payer  in  his 
previous  voyages,  was  chief  tjfficer  of  the  ship.  The 
steamer  Tegcthojf  \\7\.<.  fitted  out  in  tlie  Ijcst  possible  man- 
ner, and  Captain  Carlsen,  an  experienced  Arctic  voyaj^er. 
was  employed  as  pilot. 

On  the  14th  of  July,  i<S72,  the  voyage  was  commenced. 
Fifteen  days  later  the  coast  of  Nova  Zembla  was  seen. 
At  about  this  time  ice  became  troublesome,  but  the  north- 
ern coast  of  Nova  Zembla  was  rounded  in  safety.  Here 
progress  was  checked  and  the  ship  was  soon  fast  in  the 
ice.  The  dreary  Arctic  winter  now  set  in.  The  sun  was 
absent  one  hundred  and  nine  days.  As  there  was  danger 
that  the  ship  would  be  broken  by  the  ice,  a  hut  was  built 
in  which  to  take  refuge  in  case  such  an  accident  occura'd. 
Much  of  the  time  the  floe  in  which  the  vessel  was  encased 
was  adrift  and  toward  the  end  of  October.  1S73.  it  reached 
a  point  within  three  miles  of  an  island  lying  oflf  a  main* 
land  that  had  never  been  explored.  Some  brief  - 
sions  w^ere  made,  but  the  beginning  of  the  .Arctic  .....,..: 
soon  made  their  continuance  im]X)ssible. 

The  party  were  now  in  a  higher  latitude  than  where 
they  passed  the  preceding  winter,  and  the  sun  did  not 
appear  at  this  point  for  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  da\-s. 
Snow  fell  to  the  depth  of  tweKe  feet  and  the  cold  was 
very  severe.  In  March  several  expeditions  were  made 
by  sledge  parties.  During  one  of  these  the  temperature 
dropped  to  fifty-eight  degrees  below  zero.  One  of  the 
men     died    from    lung    disease    aggravated    by    scurx'V. 


S02  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

Many  of  the  dogs  died  and  others  became  so  weak  as  to 
be  of  Httle  use  in  the  sledge  teams.  But  in  spite  of  all 
these  obstacles  considerable  was  accomplished  in  the  way 
of  exploration.  One  of  the  sledge  parties  reached  a  lati- 
tude of  82°  5'.  In  honor  of  their  sovereign  the  leaders  of 
the  expedition  named  the  country  Franz  Josef  Land. 

There  were  no  indications  that  the  voyage  could  ever 
be  resumed,  and  the  diminished  stock  of  provisions,  to- 
gether with  the  failing  health  of  the  men,  made  it  neces- 
sary to  desert  the  ship.  On  the  20th  of  May,  1874,  the 
flags  were  nailed  to  the  mast  and  the  men  took  to  the 
sledges,  upon  which  the  boats  and  some  provisions  had 
been  loaded.  The  deep  snow  made  walking  extremely 
difficult,  and  the  wind  drove  back  the  ice  to  such  an 
extent  that  at  the  close  of  two  months  of  most  arduous 
toil  they  were  less  than  eight  miles  from  the  ship.  On 
the  14th  of  August  they  came  to  open  water,  and  four 
days  later  Nova  Zembla  was  reached.  A  few  da)'s  after- 
ward they  were  taken  off  by  a  Russian  vessel  which 
landed  them  at  Norway  on  the  3d  of  September.  Al- 
though the  explorers  did  not  accomplish  all  that  they 
desired  to  do,  the  scientific  and  geographical  results  of 
their  expedition  were  of  great  value. 

From  1858  to  1878  several  expeditions  to  the  Arctic 
seas  were  sent  out  from  Sweden.  The  expense  was 
borne  in  part  by  the  government,  but  several  individuals 
and  societies  were  large  contributors.  The  earlier  expe- 
ditions were  principally  for  scientific  purposes.  They 
resulted  in  the  securing  of  a  vast  amount  of  information 
concerning  the  zoology,  botany,  and  geology  of  the  re- 
gions visited.  Two  of  this  series  of  expeditions  should 
have  special  mention  in  this  narrative.  They  are  the 
ones  which  sailed  in  1872  and  in  1878. 


m-ROlC  EXDI-.AVORS  <ot 

For  the  expedition  of  1.S72  two  .stcamer>  and  a  ir.tMs 
port  were  furnished.  Naval  officers  had  conuiiaiul  of  the 
ships,  but  the  expechtion  was  under  the  general  direction 
of  Professor  Nordenskjold,  who  had  made  several  voy.-ij5c» 
to  the  North.  The  steamer  Onkcl  Adam  and  the  tran?*- 
port   Gladan  took  out  moss,  coal,  oil,  fifty  rein-!  -I 

the  parts  of  a  dwe]lin<;-house  ready  to  be  put  :  ^^.  ,,.,  i. 
It  was  designed  that  these  vessels  should  return  in  the 
fall ;  while  the  other  steamer,  named  the  Polhem,  was  to 
remain  at  the  North  during  the  winter. 

The  vessels  which  should  have  returned  More  winter 
set  in  were  caught  in  the  ice,  and  were  obliged  to  remain 
with  the  Polhem  in  Mussel  Bay,  on  the  northern  coa^t  of 
Spitzbergen.  Tliis  proved  a  great  disaster,  as  the  main- 
tenance of  the  crews  seriously  reduced  the  quantity  of 
provisions  which  had  been  designed  for  the  party  on 
board  the  exploring  vessel.  As  illustrating  the  jk-HIs  of 
the  Arctic  regions,  it  may  be  stated  that  a  numlx-r  of 
fishing  vessels,  with  fifty-eight  men  on  board,  were  also 
frozen  in  at  this  time  ot¥  the  northern  coast.  Eighteen 
men  took  open  boats  and  succeeded  in  reaching  Ice 
Fjord,  where  a  quantity  of  provisit)ns  had  lx*en  >tored. 
Later  in  the  season  two  of  the  shii)s  got  clear  of  the  ice 
and,  with  the  remaining  men  on  board,  .sailed  for  home. 
In  November  a  relief  exjDedition  was  .sent  from  Nor\\-ay 
for  the  fishermen  who  had  left  the  ships,  but.  owing  to 
severe  cold  and  unfavorable  weather,  it  was  unst  •   I 

Another  ship  was  sent  out  in  December,  but  w.i^  un.iwie 
to  reach  Spitzbergen.  In  January.  1873.  a  third  vcs.sel 
was  despatched,  but  the  effort  to  find  the  missing  men 
was  a  failure.  It  was  afterward  learned  that  the  house 
was  reached  and  a  quantity  of    food  was  found:  but  a* 


504  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

indicated  by  a  diary  whicli  tliey  kept  for  some  time,  the 
men  did  not  take  regular  exercise,  and  they  neglected  to 
freshen  their  meat.  As  a  consequence  of  these  indiscre- 
tions they  all  fell  victims  to  disease,  and  the  last  of  the 
party  died  before  the  summer  opened. 

The  scientists  connected  with  the  Swedish  expedition 
made  many  important  observations;  and  though  all  their 
reindeer  escaped  soon  after  they  were  landed,  several 
sledge  journeys  were  undertaken  with  dogs.  But  while 
it  accomplished  much  in  some  directions,  the  expedition 
wholly  failed  in  its  principal  object  of  making  a  journey 
on  ice  to  the  Pole. 

The  principal  object  of  the  expedition  of  1878  was 
the  discovery  of  the  Northeast  Passage.  It  involved  an 
expense  of  ^20,000,  of  which  sum  three  fifths  was  fur- 
nished by  Mr.  Oscar  Dickson,  of  Gothenburg,  and  the 
remainder  by  the  Swedish  Government.  A  screw  steamer 
named  the  Vega,  which  had  been  built  expressly  for  use 
in  the  ice  regions,  was  equipped  in  the  best  possible  man- 
ner, and  Professor  Nordenskjbld,  who  had  accompanied 
not  less  than  eight  Arctic  expeditions,  was  placed  in 
charge.  The  whole  force,  including  of^cers,  scientists, 
and  crew,  numbered  only  thirty  men. 

The  steamer  sailed  on  the  21st  of  July.  She  was 
accompanied  by  the  Lena,  a  small  steamer  which  was 
designed  for  use  on  the  river  of  that  name.  Progress 
was  slow  on  account  of  adverse  winds,  but  Kara  Sea  was 
reached  on  the  ist  of  August,  and  five  days  later  the 
vessels  entered  Dickson  Harbor,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Yenisei  River.  On  the  loth  of  August  the  voyage  was 
resumed.  The  course  was  unobstructed  for  only  two 
days.     Then  large  masses  of  ice  were  encountered,  and 


HEROIC  F.XnEAlORS  505 


A.    E.    NORDENSKJOI.D 


heavy  fogs  made  progress  l^oth  >l()\v  and  dangerous.  The 
difficulties  and  dangers  of  the  situation  were  greatly  in- 
creased by  the  fact  that  the  Taimyr  Peninsula  lies  farther 
to  the  west  than  had  been  supposed,  and  several  small 
islands  were  discovered  in  what,  according  t(»  the  then 
existing   charts,   should   have   been   the  direct  course  on 


which  to  sail 


On  the   19th  of  August  the  northern   extremily  t-i  Li- 
beria was  reached.     Here   flags  were  raised  and    '-■    »- 
was  fired.     The   only  party  to  obscr\e  these  <!< 
tions  was  a  large  white  bear,  and  he  plainly  manifested 
his   disapproval   of   the   proceedings.     The  next  day  the 


5o6  EAKLJKR   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

ships  proceeded  along  the  east  coast  of  the  peninsula. 
A  week  later  they  separated.  The  Le7ia  sailed  up  the 
river  to  its  destination,  Yakutsk,  which  it  reached  on  the 
2ist  of  September. 

The  progress  of  the  ]^ega  was  retarded  by  ice,  but 
North  Cape  was  reached  on  the  12th  of  September. 
Here  it  was  detained  for  nearly  a  week.  Several  excur- 
sions were  made  on  the  adjoining  land,  which  led  to  some 
verv  interesting:  discoveries.  Amono;  these  were  ruins  of 
the  habitations  of  a  people,  probably  allied  to  the  Eski- 
mos, who  inhabited  this  region  some  hundreds  of  years 
a2:o.  Fo2:s  and  ice  caused  constant  trouble,  but  on  the 
27th  of  September  the  east  side  of  Kolintschin  Bay  was 
reached  and  the  vessel  was  anchored.  It  was  fully  ex- 
pected that  the  voyage  would  be  resumed  on  the  next 
day,  but  the  night  was  cold  and  the  numerous  floes  were 
frozen  together  so  firmly  that  the}'  could  not  be  pene- 
trated. It  was  hoped  that  the  ice  would  soon  break  up, 
but  winds  from  the  north  continued  to  pack  heavy  masses 
along  the  coast,  and  new  ice  was  rapidly  formed  b)-  the 
increasing  cold.  Before  the  close  of  November  it  was 
evident  that  the  Vega  was  frozen  in  for  the  winter. 

Tlie  ship  was  now  near  the  northern  part  of  Bering 
Strait,  and  only  one  hundred  and  fifteen  miles  from  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  Had  this  point  been  reached  one  day 
sooner  the  voyage  could  undoubtedly  have  been  contin- 
ued without  special  difficulty,  and  an  imprisonment  in  the 
ice  for  nearly  ten  months  would  have  been  avoided.  Nei- 
ther would  the  delay  have  occurred  in  an  ordinary  season. 
But  cold  weather  came  unusually  earl),  and  navigation 
closed  more  than  two  weeks  before  the  date  up  to  which 
whaling  ships    had,  in  different  years,  been    able  to  get 


///  A- Oh  ■   l.XDEA  I  OA\S 

into  open  water.      I  )iirin<;  the  winter  m.  • 

magnetic  observations   were    regularly  t.i.. 

proved  of  great  scientific   interest  and  value.      1  i 

was  uccasionall)-  visited  by  ICskinios.  of  whom  thca*  were 
some  two  Iniiub-ed  li\iiiL;  in  the  vicinity.  The  cold  wxi 
severe,  but  there  was  no  day  uj)on  which  the  ray.s  of  the 
sun  were  not  seen  above  the  horizon. 

On  the  1 8th  of  July,  1879,  after  being  frozen  in  for  two 
hundred  and  ninety-four  day>.  the  /  V^'-^  got  free  from  the 
ice  and  proceeded  to  Bering  Strait.  Two  days  later  the 
Northeast  Passage,  for  which  Willoughby  commenced 
the  search  three  hundred  and  twenty-six  years  Ix'fore.  and 
which  many  others  had  vainly  attempted  to  find,  was 
completed.  Again  the  Swedish  flag  was  raised  and  a 
salute  was  fired.  The  i)oint  had  been  reached  at  which, 
as  Professor  Nordenskjold  expresses  it.  '"  the  Old  and  the 
New  World  seem  to  shake  hands."  After  visiting  the 
shores  of  Bering  Strait  the  I\i;^a  sailed  for  Yokohama. 
which  port  it  reached  on  the  2d  of  September. 

Omitting  a  description  of  various  minor  exjHxiitions, 
we  must  find  room  for  an  outline  of  an  im|)ortant  one 
sent  out  bv  the  Britisli  (iovernment  in  1S7S.  The  olv 
jects  of  this  expedition  were  to  reach  the  Pole,  if  |)os>il)le ; 
to  explore  any  regions  which  might  be  visited,  but  which 
had  not  previously  been  seen  or  described  ;  and  to  obtain 
information  that  wouM  be  useful  in  forming  plans  for 
further  operations  in  this  direction. 

Two    ships,  the  A/er^   and    the    Dtscoirry,  were   fully 
equipped   for   the    purpose   and    were    liberally   supph.-,l 
with  provisions    and    other    necessities.      Captain    N 
was  appointed  commander.     The  ships  sailed  on  the  29th 
of  May.     Several  islands   off   the  Greenland  coast  were 


5o8  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

visited,  and  a  number  of  dogs  and  two  drivers  were  ob- 
tained. Smith  Sound  was  reached  on  the  29th  of  July, 
and  for  more  than  a  month  the  ships  had  extreme  diffi- 
cuhy  in  joassing  through  the  ice  which  ahnost  constantly 
blocked  their  way. 

The  Discovery  went  into  winter  quarters  at  the  shore 
of  Lady  Franklin  Inlet,  in  latitude  cSi°  44'.  The  Alert 
pressed  on,  through  a  channel  of  open  water  which  ap- 
peared between  the  ice  and  the  shore,  passed  the  point 
which  the  Polaris  party  had  named  Cape  Union,  and 
entered  what  appeared  to  be  an  open  Polar  Sea.  On  the 
ist  of  September  a  position  was  gained  nearer  the  Pole 
than  any  ship  had  previously  reached,  and  the  white  flag 
was  hoisted  in  celebration  of  the  event.  All  the  indica- 
tions were  favorable  for  further  progress ;  but  the  channel 
soon  ended,  the  wind  changed,  and  the  ship  was  carried 
near  the  shore.  A  comparatively  safe  place  was  reached, 
and  on  the  3d  of  September  the  ship  was  frozen  in.  The 
latitude  was  82°  27'.  In  this  until  then  wholly  unknown 
region  the  party  were  obliged  to  spend  the  winter. 

During  the  autumn  depots  of  provisions  were  estab- 
lished for  the  use  of  sledging  parties  in  the  spring. 
Winter  brought  the  darkness  and  dreariness  which  are 
among  the  chief  characteristics  of  the  Arctic  regions  at 
this  season  of  the  year.  In  March  the  cold  was  intense. 
On  the  3d  of  that  month  the  thermometers  registered  73° 
below  zero,  but  the  following  day  brought  some  compen- 
sation in  the  fact  that  for  a  short  time  the  sun  was  visible 
above  the  hills.  But  the  cold,  terrible  as  it  was,  proved 
less  trying  than  did  the  sudden  and  violent  changes  in 
temperature,  which  sometimes  amounted  to  sixty  degrees 
within  a  few  hours.     As   they   were   farther   north   than 


HEROIC  KNDKAIOKS  509 

bears,  birds,  or  seals  arc  found,  fresh  meat  could  not  Ik- 
obtained.  One  of  the  results  of  this  deprivation  wa.s  the 
prevalence  of  the  scurvy,  fn.ni  attacks  of  which  M.-vcrdJ 
members  of  the  ])artv  died. 

As  early  in  the  spring  as  it  was  |)racticable.  slcdRinj; 
parties  were  sent  out  from  each  of  the  ships.  One  i»f 
these,  led  by  Commander  Markham  and  IJcutenant  Parr. 
moved  due  north,  with  instructions  to  go  as  far  a.H  wi*. 
sible  in  that  direction  and  in  ho|)e  of  reaching  the  !' 
another,  under  Lieutenant  Aldrich,  was  to  pa.s!>  to  in.,- 
west,  making  explorations  along  the  American  coa>l ;  and 
a  third,  led  by  Lieutenant  Beaumont,  of  the  DisciK-try, 
was  to  move  eastward  along  the  northern  coast  of  (irccn- 
land.  These  expeditions  led  to  many  interesting  dis- 
coveries, some  of  which  were  of  great  value  to  scientists. 
One  of  these  was  the  finding  of  the  remains  of  a  great 
evergreen  forest  in  latitude  S2'  44'.  a  discover)-  which 
proves  that  vast  climatic  changes  have  occurred  in  this 
now  desolate  and  barren  region. 

Commander  Markham  and  Lieutenant  Parr  reached  a 
latitude  of  '^^^  20'  26",  a  j)oint  farther  north  than  any  pre- 
vious explorer  had  reached.  The  enormous  amount  <»f 
labor  involved  in  this  undertaking  may  be  estimated  from 
the  fact  that  rJ though  this  spot  was  only  seventy-three 
miles,  in  a  straight  course,  from  the  ship,  the  party 
travelled  two  hundred  and  seventy-six  miles  going,  and 
two  hundred  and  forty-five  miles  on  the  return  trip.  T'^- 
journey  was  largely  over  ranges  of  ice  hills,  many  of  t^ 
twenty  feet  in  height,  through  ravines  filled  with  snow, 
over  or  around  vast  piles  of  broken  ice.  or  on  floes  where 
it  was  necessary  to  use  j3icks  or  axes  to  make  a  )■ 
which   the   sled2:e  could  be  drawn.     Add  to  all  1...-  »..^ 


5IO  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

suffering  and  the  depression  of  the  vital  forces  caused  by 
the  severe  cold  of  the  inhospitable  region,  and  it  hardly 
seems  possible  that  the  human  frame  could  endure  the 
terrible  hardships  to  which  these  resolute  explorers  were 
subjected. 

Lieutenant  Aldrich  and  his  party  explored  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty  miles  of  coast  line  of  which  no  chart  had 
previously  been  made.  Lieutenant  Beaumont,  with  his 
company,  made  a  survey  of  the  northern  coast  of  Green- 
land for  a  distance  of  some  seventy  miles.  They  all 
endured  severe  suffering.  Several  of  the  men  were  taken 
ill,  and  their  already  overburdened  companions  had  to 
draw  them  on  sledges  for  long  distances,  and  one  of  the 
Beaumont  party  died  on  the  way. 

When  his  men  returned  to  the  Alert,  Captain  Nares 
decided  that  it  was  not  advisable  to  continue  the  work  of 
exploration.  It  was  evident  that  at  the  point  which  he 
had  reached  the  ice  fimily  and  permanently  closed  navi- 
gation. Further  attempts  of  sledging  parties  to  reach  the 
Pole,  from  the  place  then  occupied,  would  certainly  result 
in  failure,  would  involve  a  vast  amount  of  suffering,  and 
probably  would  cause  the  loss  of  many  lives.  The  men 
were  already  weakened  by  exposure,  toil,  and  disease.  It 
was  therefore  determined  that  the  expedition  should  not 
remain  there  another  winter. 

It  was  not  till  the  31st  of  July  that  a  passage  through 
the  ice  appeared.  Upon  that  day  the  Alert  commenced 
her  homeward  voyage.  The  ship  was  often  in  great  dan- 
ger from  vast  masses  of  floating  ice,  but  it  reached  Lady 
Franklin  Inlet  in  safety  on  the  iith  of  August.  The 
Discovery  was  at  once  put  in  readiness,  but  on  account  of 
the  ice  the  ships  did  not  leave  the  port  until  the  20th  of 


///  /^:  0/C  ENDh  A I V/CS 

the  month.  Tln-y  R-achcd  Melville  Hay  on  the  l8th  o( 
September,  and  the  Arctic  Circle  was  crossed  on  tl 
of  October,  just  fifteen  months  from  the  day  the  hhip» 
sailed  over  it  when  they  were  outward  bound.  Ice.  and 
storms,  and  adverse  winds  were  encountered.  ;ii.<!  im.  f.- 
were  some  vexatious  delays;  but  on  the  2d  of  .\ 
1876,  the  vessels  sailed  into  the  harbor  of  Portsmouth. 

Although  numerous  and  earnest  efforts  had  been  made 
to  find  records  of  the  Sir  John  iM-anklin  ex|x.'ditlon.  they 
had,  with  the  single  exception  of  the  |3aper  discovered  by 
Lieutenant  McClintock,  been  utter  failures.  That  such 
documents  would  be  of  great  value,  both  from  an  histori- 
cal and  a  scientific  point  of  view,  was  evident.  That  they 
were  in  existence,  seemed  probable  from  the  fact  that 
various  parties  of  Eskimos,  from  whom  articles  which  had 
unquestionably  belonged  to  the  unfortunate  party  had 
been  obtained,  told  of  books  and  papers  which  many 
years  before  white  men  liad  placed  in  cairns  in  their 
country.  These  rumors  were  repeated,  not  only  by  ex- 
plorers, but  by  the  masters  of  whaling  ships  which  had 
visited  that  region.  Among  the  parties  who  Ix'came 
greatly  interested  in  these  reports  was  Lieutenant  Fred- 
erick Schwatka,  of  the  United  States  .\rmy.  Mainly 
through  his  efforts,  an  expedition,  the  expenses  of  which 
were  met  by  private  subscription,  wa?^  organized.  A  ship 
named  the  Eothen  was  obtained  and  fitted  for  ser\-ice  in 
the  ice,  a  crew  of  twenty-three  men  was  secured,  and 
Schwatka,  who  had  been  granted  leave  of  absence  fmm 
the  army,  was  placed  in  command  of  the  exploring  fxirty. 
While  the  main  purpose  of  the  expedition  was  to  fit  "  " 
records  of  the  Franklin  party,  there  was  also  th- 
tant  secondary  object  of  obtaining  valuable  geo^  ,  d 
information. 


512  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

On  tlie  19th  of  June,  1S78,  the  ship  sailed  from  New 
York,  and  on  the  7th  of  August  reached  Rowes  Wel- 
come Strait,  an  arm  of  Hudson  Bay,  They  were  here 
visited  by  friendly  natives.  Winter  was  spent  on  the 
mainland,  near  Depot  Island,  in  latitude  63°  51'.  The 
reports  of  the  natives  in  regard  to  the  prospect  of  finding 
the  records  in  search  of  which  the  party  had  come  were 
not  encouraging.  One  of  the  visitors  said  that,  long  be- 
fore that  time,  his  father  had  found,  in  a  cairn  on  King 
William  Land,  a  box  containing  a  written  paper ;  but  as 
the  latter  appeared  to  be  of  no  use  to  himself  or  his 
people,  it  had  been  thrown  away.  But  he  also  told  of 
another  cairn  which  had  not  been  opened,  and  of  a  spoon, 
which  had  been  given  to  Captain  Porter,  which  had  un- 
doubtedly been  used  by  the  Europeans  who  had  perished 
in  that  region.  Mr.  Gilder,  who  was  second  officer  of  the 
expedition,  found  Captain  Porter,  who  was  on  a  whaling 
ship  not  far  distant ;  but  the  information  obtained  from 
him  was  most  disheartening. 

Notwithstanding  the  discouragements  that  had  been 
met,  it  was  determined  to  prosecute  the  search.  Mr. 
Gilder  visited  an  Eskimo  settlement  more  than  seventy 
miles  away,  to  obtain  some  dogs.  Upon  his  return  a 
great  sledge  journey  was  commenced.  The  Schwatka 
party  was  accompanied  by  thirteen  Innuits,  including 
women  and  children.  The  winter  camp  was  left  on  April 
I,  1879.  The  teams  consisted  of  forty-two  dogs,  and  the 
sledges  were  loaded  with  food  supplies  sufficient  to  last 
for  five  or  six  weeks.  They  proceeded  toward  the  north- 
west, through  a  region  that  had  not  been  explored.  For 
some  time  travel  was  very  slow  and  difficult.  On  the 
15th  of  May  a  party  of  natives  was  found,  and  informa- 


JIEROIC  KNDKAVORS  5,3 

tion  corrobonitinL;  many  of  the  points  K-arncd  by  previous 
explorers  was  obtained. 

Tl-ic  journey  was  eontiiuic-d  to  hack's  River.  Montreal 
Island  was  searched  lor  traces  of  the  missing  men,  but 
without  success.  Richardson  Point  was  crossed,  and  a 
party  of  natives  were  met  from  whom  considerable  addi- 
tional information  was  obtained.  On  the  4th  of  June 
Schwatka  and  Gilder  examined  a  cairn  which  had  been 
built  by  Captain  Mall  over  the  remains  of  two  men  of  the 
Franklin  party.  At  a  s])ot  where  a  jxirty  of  Kuropcans 
had  encamped,  they  found  many  articles  and  also  an  open 
grave.  A  medal  that  had  been  placed  on  a  stone  at  this 
grave  indicated  that  Lieutenant  Irvinij,  of  the  Terror,  had 
been  buried  there.  The  skull  and  what  other  b(3nes 
could  be  obtained  were  taken  in  charge,  and  in  due  time 
were  forwarded  to  Irving's  relatives  in  Scotland.  Other 
skeletons  were  found,  but  they  could  not  be  identified,  and 
were  therefore  buried. 

By  the  3d  of  July  the  northern  |)art  of  King  Wilham 
Land  was  reached,  and  four  days  later  the  party  turned 
toward  the  south.  Travelling  was  exceedingly  difTicult. 
Several  cairns  w-ere  found  and  various  places  where  white 
men  had  camped.  At  Erebus  Bay  remains  of  a  boat  and 
numerous  small  articles  were  discovered.  Parts  of  8C\*- 
eral  skeletons  were  also  found  and  interred.  Early  in  the 
autumn  many  reindeer  v.ere  met  with  and  an  abundance 
of  meat  for  immediate  use  was  obtained,  but  by  the  mid- 
dle of  October  these  animals  had  entirely  disap|K'ared. 

After  a  period  of  rest  the  march  was  resumed  on  the 
loth  of  December.  Food  supplies  were  scanty;  and 
when  an  occasional  reindeer  was  obtained  the  tU-sh  was 
poor,    and    it    was    frozen    as    well    as    raw   when   eaten, 

33 


514  EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIOXS 

Wolves  were  exceedingly  troublesome,  and  some  of  the 
party  had  narrow  escapes  from  destruction  l^y  tliese  fero- 
cious beasts.  Heavy  snow-storms  were  frequent,  and 
often  prevented  progress  a  week  or  more  at  a  time. 
The  cold  was  terribly  severe,  the  mean  temperature  for 
January  being  53°  below  zero.  During  the  winter  there 
were  sixteen  days  when  the  thermometer  indicated  a 
temperature  of  68°  below  zero,  and  on  one  day  it  marked 
71°  below.  The  men  endured  fearful  suffering,  and  many 
of  the  dogs  perished.  By  almost  superhuman  exertions 
Depot  Island  was  reached  on  the  4th  of  March.  But  here 
a  terrible  disappointment  awaited  the  almost  exhausted 
party.  The  captain  of  the  Eothcu  had  not  delivered  the 
provisions  which  he  had  agreed  to  bring  to  that  point. 
The  only  ship  in  the  region  was  at  Marble  Island.  This 
was  reached  after  a  wearisome  march  which  occupied 
seventeen  days. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  history  of  the  longest  and  most 
remarkable  sledge  journey  hitherto  made.  The  distance 
travelled  was  three  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty-one 
miles,  and  most  of  the  journey  was  in  not  only  a  desolate, 
but  in  an  entirely  unexplored  region.  The  company  were 
out  during  an  entire  winter,  and  one  which,  according 
to  the  testimony  of  the  natives,  was  of  unusual  severity. 
The  hardship  of  the  journey  was  greatly  increased  by 
the  fact  that  during  most  of  the  long  period  which  it 
occujDied  the  entire  food  supplies  for  men  and  dogs  were 
obtained  from  the  scanty  resources  of  the  country  which 
they  traversed.  The  principal  results  of  the  expedition 
were  the  interment  of  the  bones  of  the  crews  of  the 
Erebus  and  the  Terror,  the  acquirement  of  much  valuable 
geographical   information,  and  the  establishment  beyond 


IIHKO/C  ENDEAVOKS  u; 

a  (l.)i.l)l    tlial    the-   records   of    ihc    unfortunate   |- 
party   had    Ixcn    irretrievably   lost.      The   rcluni 
was  coniplclccl   ,,n    tlu-    22A   nf   Scptcml>cr.    i 
ciKM-oyand  skill  ,>f  IJcutcnanl  Schwatka  in  the  condud 
of  the  enterprise   received  full   rcc(,gnilion  at   home  and 
abroad. 


CHAPTER    XXIX 

GREAT    DISASTERS 

In  the  year  1879  Lieutenant  G.  \\\  De  Long,  of  the 
United  States  Navy,  was  placed  in  comniand  of  an  expe- 
dition which  had  for  its  principal  object  the  discovery  of 
the  North  Pole.  This  officer  had  served  as  a  subordinate 
on  the  Jtmiata,  in  its  voyage  in  search  of  Captain  Hall, 
and  was  greatly  interested  in  the  subject  of  Arctic  explo- 
ration. At  his  earnest  solicitation  Mr.  James  Gordon 
Bennett,  of  the  "  New  York  Herald,"  purchased  and 
fitted  out  a  ship,  which  was  named  the  yeajinette,  and 
which,  for  the  purpose  of  exploring  the  Arctic  regions, 
was  placed  under  the  control  of  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment. Lieutenant  Chipp  was  appointed  executive 
officer;  Lieutenant  John  W.  Danenhower,  master;  and 
George  W.  Melville,  engineer,  —  all  belonging  to  the 
navy.  Unfortunately,  the  Bering  Strait  route  was  se- 
lected. 

On  the  <Sth  of  July,  1879,  the  Jeannettc  sailed  from  San 
Francisco  with  thirty-two  persons  on  board.  Progress 
was  slow,  as  the  winds  were  unfavorable  and  the  ship  was 
heaxily  loaded.  At  St.  Michael's,  Alaska,  forty  dogs  were 
obtained,  and  some  Indians  were  employed  to  go  with  the 
expedition  as  drivers  and  hunters.  According  to  gov- 
ernment instructions,  search  was  made  for  Professor  Nor- 
denskjold,  who  was  known  to  have  started  on  a  voyage  of 
exploration  with  a  view  to  obtaining  information  and  also 


UHEAT  DJSASTEHS 

to    rciukr    assistance    if    necessan*.     On    !* 
August  it  was  learned  thai  the  I'cga,  N<»r< 
luul  ])asse(l  llu-  uiiUer  in   the  bay  which  lli 
reached,  and  had  since  sailed  to  llie  south. 

An  atteni|)t  was  made  to  proceed  to  Wrangcll  l^ajid. 
iDut  in  less  than  a  week  progress  was  stop|K*d  by  ice  Un 
the  8th  of  September  there 
was  a  desperate  effort  to 
force  a  way  to  Herald 
Island,  but  only  a  little 
headway  was  made.  A 
few  days  later  a  jjartv  with 
dogs  and  a  sled  i)r()ceeded 
to  the  island,  in  hope  (A 
finding  a  harbor,  and  also 
of  securing  some  drift  wood 
for  fuel,  but  it  was  unsuc- 
cessful. 

The  ship  had  been 
heeled  over  some  fi\e  de- 
grees, and  in  this  position 
was  firmly  held  in  the  ice. 

It  drifted,  with   the  Hoe,  in  various  directions.      •■•"-^ 

out  to  sea  and  at  others  within  sight  of  land.      1  ' 

first  half  of  November  large  cracks  ap|K*arctl  in   •. 

and  huge  masses  of  ice  were  thrown  near  the  ship,  whu  h 

was  in   imminent  danger  of  being  crushed.     On  the  J4th 

of  the  month  the   shij)  got  aHoat,  and   in  a  f 

was  sent  adrift  in  a  gale,  but  was  stxin  frozen  i 

Toward  the  cUxse  of  tlie  year  Lieutenant   I ' 
was  disabled  by  an  affection  of  one  of  his  eye*,  a- 
long  period  was  obliged  to  remain  in  a  darkened  n«.ii». 


MKl'T.  «:.   W.    I 


5iS  EARJ.JER  ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

The  ship  was  in  constant  peril  from  tlie  ice,  and  on  the 
19th  of  January  the  fore-foot  was  broken,  and  it  com- 
menced to  leak  badly.  The  deck  i)umps  were  put  into 
iiumediate  use,  and  as  soon  as  was  possible  the  steam 
pump  was  started.  Attempts  to  fill  tlie  cracks  somewhat 
diminished,  but  did  not  nearly  stop,  the  inflow  of  water. 

Early  in  June  J)e  Long  had  strong  hopes  that  the 
voyage  could  soon  be  resumed,  but  the  ship  did  not  get 
free  of  the  ice,  and  of  course  continued  to  drift.  Fogs 
and  storms  were  frequent,  and  there  was  constant  danger. 
It  was  not  till  the  ist  of  September  that  a  shift  occurred 
which  brought  the  ship  on  an  even  keel.  It  was  still 
fast  in  the  ice,  and  efforts  to  release  it  resulted  in  in- 
creasing the  already  dangerous  leak.  It  soon  became  evi- 
dent that  the  ship  would  not  get  clear  until  after  another 
winter  at  least.  It  had  drifted  over  an  immense  area, 
sometimes  in  straight  lines  but  often  in  circles,  —  and  it 
seemed  destined  to  continue  this  erratic  course  indefi- 
nitely. 

On  the  1 6th  of  May,  1881,  land  was  seen,  the  first  for 
fourteen  months.  This  was  an  island,  and  the  ship  drifted 
past  it  on  the  following  day.  It  was  named,  in  honor  of 
the  ship,  Jeannette  Island.  On  the  24th  of  the  month  an- 
other island  was  sighted.  This  was  visited  early  in  June 
by  Engineer  Melville  and  several  other  members  of  the 
party.  It  was  named  Henrietta  Island,  and  was  formally 
taken  possession  of  in  the  name  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  12th  of  June  the  floe  split  in  ]:)ieces  and  the 
ship  was  set  free,  but  floating  masses  of  ice  pressed  u])on 
it  and  its  bows  were  raised  in  the  air.  De  Long  gave 
orders  to  remove  the  chronometers,  rifles,  and  other  indis- 
pensable articles  to  the  ice  and  prepare  to  leave  the  ship. 


GREAT  D J S ASTERS 

At  about  eleven  o'clock  that  iiij^lu  the  Ixiats  wen*  1. 
aiul   the   UR-n   iornu-d   a  camp  on  one  of  the  |> 
the  broken  llur.      At  four  o'clock  on  the  mornin};  of  June 
13,  iSSi,  the  masses  of  ice  which  had  held  it  fa.Ht  icpa* 
rated,  and  the  shi|)  went  down. 

Several  of  the  ship's  company  were  ill,  and  the  surgeon 
advised  a  l^rief  ])eriod  of  rest.  On  the  I7lh(»f  June,  at 
6  V.  M.,  the  retreat  toward  the  south  commenced.  The 
conipanv  travelletl  at  nij^ht,  in  order  to  escajx*  the  blinding 
glare  of  the  sun  upon  the  snow.  They  had  ih  '  w. 
nine  sleds,  a  lartj;e  cpiantity  of  i)emmican,  and  a  i....  -.j.,>ly 
of  ammunition.  The  men  were  harnesse<l  to  the  skxU. 
On  account  of  the  lari;e  tpiantily  of  material,  it  woa  ne- 
cessary to  go  over  the  same  ground  several  limes.  The 
snow  was  deep  and  the  toil  was  c.xhaustinj^.  After  a 
week  of  this  wearying  labor,  observations  by  the  officer 
showed  that  not  only  had  no  progress  been  made,  but  that 
the  drift  to  the  northwest  had  been  twenty-seven  miles 
farther  than  their  advance  to  the  .south.  Towan!  the 
close  of  the  month  tlie  conditions  improve<l.  and  siime 
l)rogress  was  made  in  the  direction  in  which   they  de>irf<l 

to  go. 

On  the  iith  of  July  Bennett  Island  was  discowrrd. 
On  the  2Sth  of  the  month  a  landing  was  efTecteti,  a  flig 
was  unfurled,  and  the  j^arty  t(K)k  possession  in  behalf  vk 
the  United  States.  Mere  tliey  camiK-d  for  several  da>-v 
On  the  6th  of  August  the  party  took  to  the  Ixials,  Of 
these  the  larger  cutter  was  commanded  by  I>e  I.ong.  the 
smaller  cutter  by  Lieutenant  Chipp.  and  the  whale-Uut 
by  Engineer  Melville.  On  the  nth  of  September  the 
nien  landed  on  an  island  off  the  Asiatic  a 
hunting   partv   was   sent    out.      The  next    morning;    i...> 


520 


EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXFIORATIONS 


left  the  camp  and  proceeded  on  their  course  toward  the 
southwest.  For  several  hours  the  boats  kept  near  to- 
gether;  but  a  gale  came  up  in  the  afternoon,  and  early  in 


From  Melville's  "  In  the  Lena  Delta."     I5y  the  permission  of  Honghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 

the  evening  they  were  separated,  never  to  be  brought  near 
each  other  again. 

The  whale-boat  was  brought  into  one  of  the  mouths  of 
the  Lena  River.  The  men  were  almost  exhausted,  but 
by  the  help  of  a  native  pilot  they  worked  up  the  river  to  a 
village,  where  they  waited  for  the  ice  to  form  so  they  could 
proceed  with  sleds.  A  Russian  exile  went  to  Bulun  to 
notify  the  authorities.     Lieutenant   Danenhower  made  a 


GRKA  T  D/SASmjiS 

search  willi  ii  tloo  team  li;r  the  olhcr  boats.  Lui  ....  t,.»ci- 
of  thcni  was  found. 

On  the  2(){\\  (if  ( )cl()bcr  wortl  was  received  that  a  |)arty 
of  natives  Inul  niel  two  sailors  of  the  I  )c  I-onj;  Uiat  and 
were  taking  them  to  lUilun.  Tlic  sailors  had  sent  a  note 
to  the  effect  that  De  Lonj;  and  the  remainder  of  \\\s  |)arty 
were  in  a  starving  condition.  With  one  native  and  a 
team  of  dogs  Iingineer  Melville  went  at  once  to  learn  the 
location  of  De  Long  and  give  him  relief.  Lieutenant 
Danenhower  took  charge  of  the  remainder  of  the  party 
and  went  to  Bulim.  1  le  then  followed  Melville  to  aid  in 
the  search  for  the  n^.issing  men.  At  Vakutslc  a  di>patch 
from  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  was  received.  Thi.N  di- 
rected tliat  the  invalid  and  frozen  members  of  the  party 
be  removed  to  a  warmer  locality.  I  )anenhowcr  and  hi.s 
party  went  to  h-koutsk.  1^'rom  this  point  the  lieutenant 
telegraphed  for  permission  to  renew  the  search,  but  on 
account  of  the  condition  of  his  health  the  request  was  not 
granted.  He  therefore  returned  home,  reaching  New 
York,  witli  three  of  his  men,  on  the  ist  of  June.  With 
the  exception  of  an  Lidian,  who  had  died  of  the  smallpo.x 
in  Russia,  the  remainder  of  the  whale-boat  crew  and  the 
two  men  whom  De  Long  had  sent  forward  for  relief  were 
all  in  the  United  States  early  in  kSS2.  One  of  the  mem- 
bers, however,  had  become  insane  and  was  placed  in  a 
government  institution  for  that  unfortunate  class. 

The  history  of  the  1  )e  Long  party  and  their  terrible 
fate  was  fully  learned  from  the  journal  in  which  the 
leader  made  freciuent  entries  up  to  almost  the  hour  of  hi> 
death,  and  from  the  testimony  of  the  two  men  who  were 
saved.  C  )n  the  fifth  day  after  the  .separation,  their  UkiI 
was  driven   upon  the  ground.     Most  of  its  contents  were 


522  EARLIER  ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

taken  on  sliore,  and  preparations  were  made  to  walk  to 
what  was  supposed  to  be  the  nearest  settlement,  about 
ninety-five  miles  away.  The  journey  was  commenced 
September  19.  The  walking  was  extremely  hard,  the 
loads  were  heavy,  and  the  men  were  feeble  from  their 
exposure  and  sufferings  in  the  boat.  An  occasional  rein- 
deer was  killed,  which  eked  out  their  scanty  supplies  of 
provisions.  On  the  3d  of  October  there  was  nothing  to 
eat,  and  the  last  dog  was  killed  for  food.  A  few  days 
later,  one  of  the  men,  who  had  been  badly  frost-bitten  and 
very  ill  for  some  time,  died.  As  the  party  had  nothing 
with  which  to  dig  a  grave,  the  body  was  buried  in  the 
river.  On  the  9th  the  two  men  who  finally  reached 
home  were  sent  in  advance,  to  obtain  relief  if  possible. 
On  the  loth  the  De  Long  party  had  nothing  to  eat  but 
deer-skin  scraps.  On  the  17th  one  of  the  men  died,  and 
at  midnight  of  the  21st  another  was  found  dead.  Part  of 
divine  service  was  read  on  Sunday  the  23d.  Upon  some 
days  no  entry  was  made.  Upon  others  the  death  of  one 
or  more  members  of  the  party  was  recorded.  The  last 
entry  was  dated  Sunday,  October  30.  It  states  that  two 
men  had  died  during  the  night  and  that  another  was 
dying.  This  left  De  Long,  the  surgeon,  and  one  sailor, 
all  of  whom  must  have  died  soon  after  the  record  last 
named  was  made. 

The  two  seamen  sent  on  by  De  Long  endured  the 
most  terrible  sufferings  before  they  were  rescued  by  some, 
friendly  natives.  Life  was  sustained  by  eating  their  boot 
soles,  burned  bones,  and  pieces  of  their  seal-skin  clothes, 
in  addition  to  a  bird  and  an  occasional  fish.  The  natives 
took  them  to  Bulun.  A  telegram  was  sent  to  Engineer 
Melville,  who    reached    there    on    the    3d    of    November. 


GREAT  DJSASTERS 

After  IcarniiiL;  the  clirection  in  whicli  I  )c  l.f  ■■  '•  ■  = 
ceeded,  he  started  for  the  Lena  DcUa.  lie  < 
ords  from  nati\e  liiiiUerN  which  enabled  him  to  find  ihc 
log-books  and  otiier  articles  which  had  been  left  on  the 
shore.  A  long  search,  entailing  great  suffering,  proved 
unavailing.  As  it  was  certain  that  the  missing  party  had 
perished,  and  that  nothing  more  could  be-  done  until  a 
more  favorable  season  oj^ened  and  further  supplies  were 
obtained,  Melville  proceeded  to  \'akutsk. 

Early  in  spring  the  search  was  resumed,  and  on  the  23d 
of  March,  1SS2,  the  last  camp  of  the  party  was  found  and 
the  bodies  of  ten  of  the  men  who  had  died  at  that  jxiint. 
One  of  the  men,  as  Dc  Long's  journal  stated,  had  died 
in  a  boat,  and  the  body  had  jirobably  been  swept  into  the 
river  near  which  the  cam])  was  formed.  \  tomb  was 
erected  on  a  bluff,  and  the  bodies,  in  a  bo.\  which  had 
been  made  for  the  }Durpose,  were  jDlaced  therein.  A 
cross,  twenty-two  feet  high,  was  erected.  Upon  this  cross 
was  the  following  inscription:  "  In  Memory  of  12  of  The 
Ofificers  And  Men  of  The  Arctic  Steamer  JcannftU,  who 
Died  of  Starvation  In  The  Lena  1  )elta,  October,  iS^Si." 
This  was  followed  by  the  names  of  the  men  who  met  this 
terrible  fate.  Afterward  caskets  were  sent  to  Silx'ria,  and 
the  bodies  were  brought  to  the  United  States. 

After  the  separation  of  the  boats  in  the  gale  of  the  1 2th 
of  September,  Lieutenant  Chipp  and  his  party  were  ncwr 
seen.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  frail  craft,  with  all 
on  board,  was  engulfed  in  the  sea. 

As  whaling  vessels  returning  from  the  North  Pacific  in 
1879  brought  no  news  of  the  Jcauuette.  and  two  ships  of 
the  whaling  fleet  which  had  been  near  where  the  cxph.r- 
ino-  vessel  was  to  go  did  not  come  back,  the  government 


524  EARLIER  ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

sent  out  the  steamer  Corwin  to  look  after  the  seal  fish- 
eries in  Alaskan  waters  and  also  to  search  for  the  missins: 
vessels.  The  Corwin  sailed  from  San  Francisco  in  May, 
i8So,  and  returned  the  following  October.  No  trace  of 
the  vessels  was  found.  In  1881  the  government  sent  out 
three  ships  on  the  same  errand.  One  of  these  was  the 
Corwin,  which  sailed  from  San  Francisco  on  the  4th  of 
Alay  and  again  returned  in  October.  Evidence  was  ob- 
tained that  the  two  whaling  ships  had  been  wrecked  and 
their  crews  had  perished. 

On  the  1 6th  of  June  the  Rodgers  sailed  from  San 
Francisco  for  Bering  Strait.  While  in  St.  Lawrence 
Bay,  late  in  November,  the  ship  was  burned.  The  offi- 
cers and  crew  were  relieved  by  a  whaling  vessel.  The 
steamer  Alliance  was  sent  to  search  between  Greenland 
and  Iceland,  and  along  the  coast  of  Norway  and  Spitzber- 
gen.  She  left  Hampton  Roads  on  the  i6th  of  June  and 
reached  New  York,  on  the  return  trip,  on  the  nth  of 
November.  Although  none  of  these  expeditions  found 
traces  of  the  Jeannette^  a  great  amount  of  geographical 
and  scientific  knowledge  was  obtained. 

In  carrying  out  its  part  in  an  international  plan  for  tak- 
ing observations  in  the  Arctic  regions,  the  United  States 
established,  in  1881,  two  stations.  One  of  these  was 
located  at  Ooglaamie,  near  Point  Barrow,  in  Alaska. 
The  expedition  was  in  charge  of  Lieutenant  Ray,  of  the 
army,  who  sailed  from  San  Francisco  on  the  i8th  of 
July,  and  reached  his  destination  early  in  September. 
This  party  was  recalled  by  an  act  of  Congress,  and 
reached  San  Francisco  on  the  2d  of  October,  1883. 

The  other  expedition  had  a  terrible  experience.  It 
was   sent  to  establish  a  station  near  Lady  Franklin    Bay. 


GREA  T  DISASTERS 

The   objects    in   \ie\\    were  the    making  of    cvidMritiinis 
the  collection  of  animal,  vegetable,  and  mine; 
and    the   takini;    (.f    nieteoroiugieai,  magnetic,  and 
observations    in    aecordanee     witii     tlic    |)lan  adoptcti   by 
the   International   Conference,  to  which  the  establishment 
of  this  station  and   the  one   in  Alaska  was  due. 

Lieutenant  A.  W  .  Oreely,  of  the  army,  was  placed  in 
charge  of  the  party,  which  consisted  of  twenty-three  men. 
Two  I'^skinios  joined  it  al  Upernavik.  Very  minute  di- 
rections as  to  the  work  to  be  done,  and  the  course  to  be 
pursued,  were  given  by  the  government.  /\  sh"-  ••  ■■  to 
be  sent  each  year  with   sujiplies.  and  depots  of  )  is 

were  to  be  established  at  s|)ecitK-d  points.  If  the  shi|>s 
did  not  reach  the  station,  (ireely  was  to  commence  a 
retreat  not  later  than  Sei)tember  i,  i.SS;. 

On  the  7th  of  July,  iSSi,  the  party  sailed  from  St. 
John's,  Newfoundland,  in  the  Proteus,  a  steamer  which 
had  been  chartered  for  the  pur|X)se.  At  various  pointjk 
stops  were  made  to  ])rocure  dogs,  obtain  additional  sup- 
plies, establish  depots  of  provisions,  and  complete  prcpa- 
rations  for  a  long  sojourn  in  a  desolate  land. 

Littleton  Island  was  reached  on  the  2d  of  .Aujjust. 
Two  days  later,  when  only  eight  miles  from  the  place  of 
destination,  progress  was  checked  by  ice.  Durinjj  the 
next  few  days  the  shij)  was  driven  back  forty-five  miles. 
On  the  loth  the  wind  changed,  and  the  next  day  the  ship 
crossed  Lady  I-'ranklin  Hay.  It  was  .'  '  '  •  '  -.to 
where  the  English  vessel,  the  Discoverw  '  :   •••-  ^'• 

dition,  had  wintered.     With  great  ditTiculty  a  pa  '-^ 

forced  through  the  ice  which  had   formed  in  the  1 
At  a  point  about  one  hundred  yards  from  the  e 

ship   anchored,    and    the   work    of    unloading   w-l^   t- -m- 


526  EARLIER  ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

menced.  A  house  was  constructed,  and  the  station  was 
named  Fort  Conger.  After  a  delay  of  several  days,  occa- 
sioned by  ice  at  the  entrance  to  the  harbor,  the  steamer 
started  on  her  return  voyage,  which  was  made  in  safety. 
Two  of  the  party,  who  did  not  appear  able  to  endure  the 
hardships  of  the  service,  returned  in  the  ship. 

In  accordance  with  the  arrangement  made  when  Greely 
was  sent  out,  a  vessel  was  despatched  with  supplies  in 
1882.  This  was  the  Neptune,  which  sailed  from  St. 
John's  on  the  8th  of  July,  with  William  M.  Beebe,  a  pri- 
vate in  the  general  service,  in  charge.  On  account  of  ice 
and  storms  the  station  was  not  reached.  Provisions  were 
stored  at  various  points  and  the  ship  returned. 

In  1883  the  government  sent  out  two  ships,  the  Pro- 
teus and  the  Yantic,  with  supplies  for  Greely  and  his 
party.  This  expedition  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
Garlington,  of  the  army.  The  Proteus,  in  which  Gar- 
lington  sailed,  was  a  strong  vessel  well  fitted  for  service  in 
the  ice.  The  Yantic,  with  Commander  Wildes  in  charge, 
was  a  much  smaller,  weaker,  and  slower  craft. 

The  expedition  left  St.  John's  on  the  29th  of  June. 
Godhavn  was  reached  in  safety.  The  Yantic  was  obliged 
to  stay  a  few  days  for  necessary  repairs,  and  was  then  to 
sro  to  Waiorat  Strait  for  coal.  As  soon  as  the  weather 
permitted,  the  Proteus  resumed  the  voyage,  but  soon 
encountered  ice,  was  com])elled  to  head  toward  the 
south,  and  was  repeatedly  turned  from  a  direct  course. 
At  length  Cape  Sabine  was  reached,  and  the  shij)  was 
anchored  in  Payer  Harbor.  Here  the  party  remained 
four  and  a  half  hours.  Whether  the  instructions  were  too 
indefinite,  were  misunderstood,  or  the  commander  of  the 
expedition  did  not  realize  the  vast  importance  of  leaving 


GREAT  DISASTERS  5,; 

a  full  supply  of  provisions  at  this  point,  which  Greely  and 
his  men  were  almost  sure  to  visit  two  months  later  if  the 
shi]i  failed  to  reach  Lady  iM-ankiin  Hay,  cannot  Ik' told, 
IniL  the  oi:)])()rtunity  for  Icaviivjj  supplies  was  not  iniprovi.*d. 
Two  small  depots  of  pro\isious  wiiiih  liad  been  formed  by 
preceding  parlies  were  visited,  and  one  of  them  was  re- 
paired. Various  mai^netic  and  other  obserN-alions  were 
taken,  and  the  work  of  the  e\j)e(lition  at  thi>*  jxiint  was 
closed. 

As  the  ice-pack  ai)i)eared  to  have  broken,  the  vu)*age 
was  resumed  in  the  evening;,  .\fler  proceeding  abtjul 
twenty  miles,  ice  was  again  encountered.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  23d  of  July  the  situation  was  .so  perilous  that  • 
an  effort  was  made  to  return  to  the  south ;  but  in  the 
afternoon  the  ship  was  hemmed  in,  and  before  nijjhtfall  it 
was  crushed  by  enormous  masses  of  ice.  Harly  in  the 
evenine  a  chanw  in  the  tide  caused  a  movement  of  the 
ice  which  relieved  the  pressure,  and  the  ship  at  once 
went  down. 

When  it  became  evident  that  the  shij)  would  l)c 
wrecked,  the  boats  and  a  cpiantity  of  provisions  were 
taken  out.  After  the  Proh-ns  went  down  the  crew  ttxik 
three  of  the  boats  and  the  relief  party  the  other  two.  A 
small  quantity  of  provisions  and  a  few  other  stc»res  were 
landed  near  Cape  Sabine.  One  party,  under  Lieutenant 
Colwell,  who  had  acct)mj)anicd  the  e.\|)C(htion  as  a  volun- 
teer, and  had  taken  charge  of  the  meteorological  work, 
but  who  was  not  in  authority,  sailed  across  Melville  liay 
in  hope  of  hnding  the  }'an/u.  After  Ix-ini;  in  •"  '  \\ 
thirty-eight  days,  exposed   to  cold,  encount-  •  •  -iid 

tremendous  gales,  and  covering  a  distance  •  ,  '  hun- 
dred miles,  the  weary  party  arrived  at  Disco,  where,  to 


528  EARLIER  ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

their  inexpressible  relief,  they  found  the  ship.  Garlington 
and  his  party,  including  the  crew  of  the  Proteus,  had  kept 
along  the  shore  and  reached  Upernavik  on  the  24th  of 
August,  only  two  days  after  the  Yantic  had  left  that  port 
for  fear  of  being  frozen  in.  Immediately  upon  the  arrival 
of  Lieutenant  Colwell,  the  Yantic  returned  to  Upernavik, 
took  Garlington  and  liis  nien  on  board,  and  sailed  for 
St.  John's,  where  it  arrived  on  the  13th  of  September. 

The  season  was  so  far  advanced  that  it  A\ould  be  worse 
than  useless  to  make  further  attempts  to  relieve  Greely 
that  year,  but  the  government  soon  commenced  prepara- 
tions for  sending  an  expedition  at  the  earliest  moment  it 
would  be  possible  to  enter  the  Arctic  Sea.  Two  ships, 
the  Thcds  and  the  Bear,  were  purchased  ;  and  the  Alert, 
which  had  been  used  by  Captain  Nares  in  the  expedition 
of  1875,  was  donated  for  the  purpose  by  the  British  Gov- 
ernment. A  steamer,  the  Loch  Garry,  was  chartered  at 
St.  John's  to  carry  a  supply  of  coal  to  Littleton  Island. 

Commander  W.  S.  Schley,  of  the  navy,  was  placed  in 
charge  of  this  expedition.  The  ships  were  fully  equipped, 
and  officers  were  chosen  and  crews  selected  with  great 
care.  Provisions  were  taken  for  two  years.  To  induce 
owners  of  whaling  vessels  to  interest  themselves  in  the 
case,  Congress  offered  a  reward  of  ^25,000  for  the  rescue 
of  the  Greely  expedition  or  conclusive  information  regard- 
ing its  fate. 

On  the  24th  of  April,  1SS4,  the  /?mr  sailed  from  New 
York.  On  May  i  the  Thetis  left  the  same  j^ort,  and  the 
Alert  followed  on  May  10.  The  advance  ships,  the 
Thetis  and  the  Bear,  had  much  trouble  with  ice  in  Mel- 
ville Bay,  but  succeeded  in  reaching  Littleton  Island  — 
the  Thetis  on  the  21st,  and  the  Bear  on  the  22d  of  June. 


GREAT  DISASTERS 

iMiidini;   iliat    ( irccly  had  not  reached  tl. 
ships  at  once  |)rocccdcd  toward  Ca|X'  Sabine.     L.i 
the    afternoon    of    the    2 2d    they    were   stop|K'd   b. 
Several   parties  were  sent  ashore,  one  of  \vl:    ' 

covered   records  of  the  niissinj;  explorers.      i 

these   was  dated   October   21.   1.SS3.  and  staled  tha- 
rations  for  only  forty  days  remained.     There  Mrcm- 
be  hardly  a  possibility  that  any  of  the  party  could 
f^urvived.      iJeutenant   Colwell,  with  a  few  o'" 
forward  in  a  cutter,  followed  as  soon  as  |x. >-...■, 
ships,  to   the   site  of   the  (ireely  camp,  as  stated  1 
papers  that   had   been  found.      This  was  about  five 
west  of  Caj)e  Sabine.     l*"ortunately,  the  wind  had  dnvtrn 
the  ice  froni  the  shore,  thus  i^iving  a  free  course. 

About   nine   o'clock    in   the  evenini;    Colwell  and   his 
party   reached    the   camp.      Here   (ireely   and   si.x  «'f    '»*- 
men  were  found.     The  others  had  perished.     .All  th- 
vivors  were   feeble ;  and   several,  including  Greely.  were 
almost  at  the  point  of  death.     They  were  given  n - 
tives  and  a  little  food,  and,  when  somewhat 
taken  aboard   the  shij)s,      I'he   bodies  of  th  ;    i.i« 

dead    were    recovered.     Of    these,   one.   an    1  '.  was 

buried  at  Disco.     The  other   twelve  were   taken  to  the 
United  .States.     Mve  bodies  that  had  lx"en  buried  at  the 
camp  had  been  swept  into  the  sea.     Ik'sides  the  - 
men  who  had  died  of  st.irvation.  one  had  been 
while   endeavoring    to   |)rocure   foixl.  and  one 
rescued    had    been    so    badly    frost-bitten,   and    w.i 
reduced  by  exj)osure  and  want  of  ftxKl,  that  he  di' 
the  homeward  journey. 

Greely  and  his  men  abandoned    l-oil   Longer   .\ 
9,  1S83.  were  adrift  on  ice  for  thirty  day-    '-'  ^^'  " 

34 


530  .     EARLIER   ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS 

pelled  to  abandon  their  boats  before  they  reached  the 
spot  where  the  final  camp  was  made,  and  where  they 
remained  from  October  21,  1883,  until  June  22,  1884. 
During  the  winter  gales  were  numerous,  and  great  quan- 
tities of  ice  were  driven  through  the  channel,  thus  pre- 
venting its  freezing  over  and  thereby  cutting  off  the  party 
from  the  supplies  of  food  which  were  stored  on  Littleton 
Island. 

The  Thetis,  Bear,  and  LocJi  Garry  reached  St.  John's 
on  July  17,  1884,  and  the  Aleri  arrived  on  the  following 
day.  About  a  week  later  the  three  vessels  which  be- 
longed to  the  government  sailed  for  Portsmouth,  New 
Hampshire,  where  they  arrived  on  the  ist  of  August. 
Here  the  party  was  received  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  and  other  prominent  officials,  and  a  public  recep- 
tion was  given.  On  the  8th  of  August  the  ships  reached 
New  York.  Officers  of  the  army  and  navy  were  pres- 
ent, and  the  relief  expedition  was  received  with  imposing 
ceremonies. 

While  the  station  was  maintained  at  Fort  Conger  much 
was  done  in  the  way  of  exploration,  and  some  valuable 
discoveries  were  made.  A  party  under  Lieutenant 
Lockwood  reached  latitude  83°  24',  a  point  farther  north 
than  had  been  gained  by  civilized  man,  and  which  was 
not  again  attained  until  the  intrepid  Nansen  made  his 
splendid  effort  to  reach  the  Pole. 


im-: 


I'ol.Ak   1,.\I'I,|)IT1()XS 

OF     IS97 


PR(»K.    S.  A    ANI>K>  K 
(FROM  A  RECKNT  PHOTOGRAI'H  l«Y  OOSTA  rU»ll>l 


A  XL)  RLE 


PKAkV 


ANTAR«  Tl« 


Friinkel  Andiee  Strindbcri. 

ANDREE    AND    HIS    COMPANIONS 


CH.APTHR    XXX 

rilK    ANDKl  I     rvii.Hiv    IXPEDITION 

A  wiDKi.v  different,  and  aj>ijaicully  afar  ii 
method  tlian  any  which   liad   previously  IxHrn  <n 
reaching  the  North  WAc,  lias  been  adopted  by   1 
Andree,  of    Sweden.     This    is    an  attempt    to  i. 
journey  bv  means  of  a  balloon.      It  has  not  only  awal. 
the  curiosity  of  the  i)ublic  in  general,  but  has  also  ar 
the  deepest  interest  in  scientific  circles.     At  the  pr 
writing  the  outcome  of  this  most  remarkn'*^--  .rf...!   ; 
known,  and  information  regarding  the  pi 
pedition  is  eagerly  awaited  throughout  the  civilized  v, 

Solomon  Akji  st  Andrki:.  the  son  of  an  apotheca 
Grenna,  Sweden,  was  born  in  that  town  in  iiS54and  • 
his   father  died  in    1S71.     After  graduating  at    *'- 
school  in  his  native  town  the    young  man  attc: 
technical  college  at  Stockholm.    When  he  left  this 
tution    he    became    one    of    the  owners   of   a  small 
foundrv  near   lonkoping.      The  business,  which 
ducted  under  the  firm  name  of  Mciller  &  Ai  ' 
prove  very  congenial.     This  led   Andree  to  > —  ^. 
ment   as    a    {practical    engineer.     After   working   i' 
capacitv  at  various  places  for  severa 
teacher  of  natural  i)hilosophy  (physics)  at  t: 
Stockholm  in  which  he  had  previously  been  a  >U:aeiiL 

In  1S.S1-S2  Andre-e  was  a  member  of  Dr.  Kkholm's 
expedition  to  S|)itzbergcn  which  was  sent  out  to  lake 
meteorological  and  other  scientific  obser\-ation».     On  hi» 


534  THE  POLAR   EXPEDITIONS 

return  home  he  was  appointed  chief  engineer  at  the 
Patent  Office  at  Stockhohri.  Later,  as  a  private  under- 
taking, he  crossed  the  ocean  to  Philadelphia  in  order  to 
make  a  careful  study  of  atmospheric  conditions.  He  was 
struck  with  the  continued  regularity  of  aerial  currents 
near  the  surface  of  the  water  and  formed  the  opinion  that 
the  his/her  currents  would  be  even  more  uniform  and  con- 
tinuous.  This  led  to  a  belief  that  it  would  be  possible  to 
cross  from  America  to  Europe  in  a  balloon.  As  time 
passed  on  his  interest  in  meteorology  increased.  He 
requested  his  brother,  Ernst,  w4io  was  a  captain  in  the 
merchant  marine  and  sailed  to  all  parts  of  the  world,  to 
make  accurate  observations  of  the  weather.  From  reports 
received,  in  response  to  this  request,  from  Australia, 
Japan,  and  the  East  Indies,  Andree  gathered  many 
interesting  facts  which  were  soon  published.  For  some 
time  he  was  not  able  to  experiment  extensively  in  aerial 
navigation,  but  the  results  of  several  ascensions  with  the 
celebrated  Norwegian  aeronaut,  Cetti,  seemed  to  establish 
the  truth  of  some  of  the  theories  which  he  had  formed. 

Andree  spent  the  summer  of  1S93  at  Goteborg,  on  a 
visit  to  his  brother  who  had  become  the  manager  of  a 
sailor's  home  at  that  place.  Andree  had  already  con- 
ceived the  singularly  daring  plan  of  crossing  the  ocean  in 
a  balloon  from  the  Cape  Verde  Islands,  near  the  north- 
western coast  of  Africa,  to  Venezuela.  By  making  this 
trip  he  wanted  to  prove  the  possibility  of  travelling  long 
distances  in  a  balloon.  By  careful  calculation  the  two 
brothers  concluded  that  the  distance  between  the  points 
named  could  be  traversed  in  ninety-seven  hours.  After  a 
great  deal  of  study  an  elaborate  plan  was  completed.  But 
when  this  plan  was  submitted  to  the  great  explorer  Nor- 


TIIF.    AXPRl-.E   J^  A I  LOON  EXPEDtTW.\ 

denskjold,  and  other  scientists  at  Stockholm,  they  naid  to 
Andrec,  "  If  you  have  faith  in  such  an  und- 
not  rather  try  to  <;o  from  Spitzbergen  to  the  NuiUi  i' 
This  led  Andre'e  to  consider  the  fea.sibihty  of  m.,  ..  .» 
project  and  eventually  to  engage  in  the  great  work  which 
during  the  past  few  years  has  kept  his  name  prominently 
before  the  public. 

In  the  same  year  he  obtained  from  a  memorial  fund  at 
Stockholm,  called  "Lars  Hjertas  Minna,"  the  sum  of 
$1400  to  assist  him  in  his  aeronautical  exjx'riments.  and 
the  goxernment  allowed  him  to  import,  free  of  duty,  a 
balloon  made  in  Paris  on  condition  that  he  should  a*|X)rt 
the  results  of  his  efforts  to  the  Royal  Swedish  Academy 
of  Sciences.     This  balloon,  which  was  named  .V     •       is 

large  enough  to  contain  about  forty  thousand  five  ^d 

cubic  feet  of  gas.  With  it  Andree  made  twelve  a-sccn- 
sions,  —  the  first  late  in  1S93  and  the  last  on  March  17, 
1897.  He  was  usually  very  fortunate  in  his  descents,  but 
on  one  occasion  he  came  near  losing  his  life  in  the  Baltic 
Sea. 

In  the  i)romised  rei)orts  to  the  .Academy  of  Sciences 
Andree  published  the  results  of  his  obscn-ations  and 
explained  his  theories  of  aerial  navigation.  The  first 
elaborate  explanation  of  his  project  of  a  Polar  c^  m 

was  made  in  a  lecture  read  at  a  meeting  of  the 
on  the  13th  of  I'ebruary,  1S95.     On  the  15th  of  :.-  c 

month    the    lecture    was   delivered    at  a  meeting   o(   the 
Swedish  Society  of  Anthropology  and  C'lcography,  and  it 
was  afterwards  jirinted   in  pamj)hlet  form  with  the  f- 
ing  title:  "  Proposed  Plan  of  an  E.\|)e<lition  to  the  Nurin 
Pole  in  a  Balk)on." 

The   lecture  be<^rins  as  follows:    'If  we  obsenT  what 


536  THE  POLAR    EXPEDITIONS 

means  have  been  used  to  push  forward  over  the  ice  fields  of 
the  Arctic  regions,  we  find  that  the  explorer  so  far  only  has 
used  one  single  instrument,  and  that  is  the  sledge.  The 
sledge  has  always  been  the  means  of  transportation,  and 
the  only  difference  in  the  many  expeditions  has  been  in 
harnessing  either  men  or  beasts  to  it.  I  will  not  gi\^e  an 
opinion  as  to  which  is  the  better,  but  will  only  say  that 
neither  has  been  a  success,  though  in  the  course  of  time 
fresh  exertions  have  constantly  been  made.  The  fact 
remains  that  in  attempting  to  push  on  over  the  polar  ice 
we  have  lost  numbers  of  men,  ships,  and  money,  and 
several  hundred  years  of  time,  without  having  succeeded 
in  crossins^  the  icv  desert  and  reachini2:  the  Pole. 

"  Is  it  not  time  to  examine  this  question  and  look  about 
for  some  other  means  of  transportation  than  the  sledge  } 
Yes,  it  is  time,  and  we  will  not  have  to  look  far  to  find  the 
means  that  is  particularly  adapted  for  such  purposes. 

"  This  means  is  the  balloon.  Not  the  ideal  perfectly 
steerable  balloon  that  is  dreamed  of  and  worshipped  but 
has  never  been  seen,  but  the  balloon  that  we  really  possess 
and  that  is  judged  so  unfavorably  while  only  its  weak 
points  are  noticed  and  emphasized.  Such  a  balloon  is 
good  enough  to  carry  the  explorer  to  the  Pole  and  home 
again.  With  such  a  balloon  the  voyage  across  the  icy 
desert  ca7i  be  accomplished." 

Andree  was  a  delegate  to  the  Geographical  Congress 
which  was  held  in  London  in  July,  1895.  There  his 
plans  for  crossing  the  North  Pole  in  a  balloon  obtained 
the  greatest  degree  of  publicity  and  were  the  subject  of 
long  and  earnest  discussion.  The  assemblage  was 
strongly  impressed  by  his  scientific  arguments  as  well  as 
by  his  intense  enthusiasm.     The  battle  for  the  recognition 


> 


I 


hm 


>' 


^i 


h 


t>-. 


^i^  i 


i      ^ 


538  THE   POLAR  EXFEDITJONS 

and  acceptance  of  the  balloon  theory  was  won.  Even 
Markham,  the  pride  of  the  English  polar-explorers,  who 
at  first  would  not  listen  to  any  talk  of  such  an  expedition, 
was  brought  so  fully  to  its  support  that  at  a  dinner  which 
he  gave  to  Andree  a  few  days  later,  he  declared :  "  I 
should  like  to  go  with  you  myself,  but,"  he  added  as  he 
pointed  to  his  charming  wife,  "  here  is  what  prevents  me." 
Later  utterances  have  shown  that  these  encouraging 
words  of  the  famous  naval  officer  were  not  dictated  by 
mere  politeness  to  his  guest. 

Baron  Nordenskjbld,  whose  great  success  in  the  work 
of  Arctic  exploration  made  him  an  invaluable  ally,  fully 
endorsed  the  arguments  of  Andree.  On  Andree's  return 
to  Sweden  a  subscription  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the 
projected  expedition  was  started.  In  a  short  time  the 
required  sum  ($36,000)  was  pledged  by  prominent  Swedes. 
So  great  was  the  interest  in  this  unique  plan  that  ten 
times  as  much  money  could  have  been  obtained  if  the 
subscription  had  been  open  to  the  public.  The  principal 
subscribers  were  Alfred  Nobel,  ($17,000);  King  Oscar  II., 
($8,000);  and  Baron  Oscar  Dickson,  ($8,000).  These 
gentlemen  also  paid  the  expenses  of  the  second  expedi- 
tion, which  amounted  to  about  $8,000. 

While  noting  these  numerous  and,  to  Andree  at  least, 
very  gratifying  expressions  of  confidence  in  the  proposed 
method  of  solving  the  Arctic  problem,  it  should  be  stated 
that  there  were  many  people  to  w^hom  it  seemed  extremely 
perilous  if  not  actually  impraticable.  About  the  time  of 
the  departure  of  the  expedition  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Fridtjof 
Nansen,  as  to  a  successful  ending,  was  sought  by  a  pro- 
minent Swedish  paper.  The  following  rather  non-commit- 
tal reply  was  telegraphed  from  Lysaker  on  July  21,  1897: 


THE   A.\I)RhE   BAlLOOy  HX/'JiD/JJO 

'•  On  my  return   here   !   received  your  telegram.     I  am 
not  an   aeronaut  and   ihcrclore  have  no  claim  lo 
authoritw      10  mc,  havini;  no  scientific  1         '    '  ^i. 

loonini;.  the  c.xjK-chtion  seems  an  underl.; ^   ,    „^. 

sible  to  acconiplisli." 

A  luunlxr  of  otlier  men  who,  as  practical  explciren*  «.r 
as  close  students  of  the  subject,  seemed  to  be  •  it 

judges,  expressed   the  opinion    that,  while   it   v,  n 

the  Hmits  of  possibiHty,  a  successful  outcome  w..-  ,,.,Miiy 
to  be  expected. 

Aiuhee  sjiciit  the  winter  of  1 895-96  in  France  and 
England,  lie  made  numerous  ascensions  with  French 
aeronauts  near  Paris,  discussed  his  plans  with  a  number 
of  scientists,  and  received  from  them  many  valuable  sug- 
gestions. 

The  balloon  was  made  by  M.  Lachambre,  of  Farirs  and 
cost  ;^  10,000.  It  is  about  .seventy-five  feet  in  height  from 
the  opening  of  the  balloon  projjer  to  the  top,  and  not  far 
from  one  hundred  feet  high  from  the  tt)p  to  the  '    '  i 

the  basket.  It  is  made  of  three  thicknesses  (»f  -.i»v  ..^id 
toorether  with  varnish  and  the  whole  overlaid  with  two 
coats  of  varnish.  The  gondola,  or  car,  is  about  fiVQ  feet 
dec])  and  six  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter.  It  is  made  of 
wicker-work.  i>  lined   with  varnished  silk,  and  *«•  a 

sleeping  apartment   for  one   of   the   aeronauts   wn.r    inc 
others  are  at  work  and  at  v.atch.     It  is  covered  with  .1  lid 
of  basket-work.     In   this   lid   there  is  a  trap  door  ■ 
furnishes  a  means  of  entrance  to  or  e.xit  from  tlv 
While  at  work   the  men  .stand  upon  this  lid  an-' 
tially  protected  from  the  wind   by  a  \i 

about  the  height  of  a  man's  waist  tl.v.  f 

the  same  diameter  as  the  car.     U|>on  t 


540  THE   POLAR   EXrEDITJONS 

instruments  of  the  expedition  are  firmly  fixed.  So,  while 
the  explorers  stand  on  the  lid  of  the  car,  watching  their 
progress  through  the  air,  they  are  really  in  the  middle  of 
their  observatory  with  ample  facilities  for  recording  what- 
ever they  may  deem  worthy  of  note. 

A  number  of  the  instruments  taken  in  the  balloon  were 
invented  by  Dr.  Ekholm  and  Strindberg.  Among  them 
is  one  for  ascertaining  the  direction  and  velocity  of  the 
clouds,  and  another  which  registers  the  intensity  of  the 
sunlight.  There  is  also  an  apparatus,  invented  by  a  Ger- 
man photographer,  for  making  photographic  maps  of  the 
regions  over  w^hich  they  pass. 

The  provisions,  sledges,  and  a  collapsible  boat,  are 
stored  in  the  netting  above  the  ring.  In  order  to  pro- 
mote convenience  in  handling,  as  well  as  to  insure  better 
preservation,  the  food  supplies  are  placed  in  canvas  bags. 
The  apparatus  for  cooking  is  very  ingenious.  As  either 
flame  or  sparks  would  be  exceedingly  dangerous  near  the 
highly  inflammable  gas  of  the  balloon  it  was  evident  that 
cooking  in  the  car  would  involve  a  terrible  risk.  So  the 
work  is  done  in  a  copper  cylinder  which  is  let  down 
twenty-five  feet  below  the  car.  Heat  is  furnished  by 
means  of  an  alcohol  lamp.  This  is  ignited  by  a  mecha- 
nism in  the  car  and  extinguished  by  blowing  through  an 
India  rubber  tube.  By  looking  in  a  reflecting  glass  the 
cook  can  easily  see  whether  the  lamp  is  burning. 

While  this  balloon  may  be  regarded  as  being  in  almost 
every  respect  a  novelty,  its  most  striking  characteristic  is 
the  guiding  and  steering  apparatus.  This  may  be  briefly 
described  as  consisting  principally  of  guiding  ropes. 
These  are  of  different  lengths,  the  shortest  measuring 
about   one   thousand    feet  and   the   longest  some   twelve 


^ 


i 


542  2^HE  POLAR   EXPEDITIONS 

li  unci  red  feet.  These  ropes  hang  from  the  bearing-ring 
just  outside  the  car  and,  when  the  balloon  is  not  at  too 
high  an  altitude,  drag  upon  the  earth  or  the  ice.  They 
are  of  different  leno;ths  in  order  that  if  one  of  them  oets 
entangled  with  any  object  the  others  may  run  free. 

It  was  Andree  s  intention  to  keep  only  about  five  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  surface  of  the  earth  and  let  the  guide 
ropes  trail  behind  the  car.  Sails  were  rigged  from  a  bam- 
boo yard-arm  extending  horizontally  across  a  second  ring. 
By  the  obstruction  of  the  guide  ropes  and  by  changing 
the  sails  to  the  right  or  the  left,  or  by  taking  in  a  sail  on 
either  side,  it  was  thought  that  a  tack  of  thirty  degrees 
could  be  made.  This  was  an  important  matter,  as  without 
some  apparatus  for  modifying  its  direction  the  balloon 
would  go  right  before  the  wind.  It  was  also  important 
that  some  method  of  regulating  the  altitude  of  the  balloon 
while  floating  in  the  air  should  be  devised.  Otherwise, 
when  the  weather  is  warm  the  heated  gas  will  cause  the 
balloon  to  rise,  while  a  lower  temperature,  by  reducing  its 
buoyancy,  will  draw  it  nearer  to  the  earth.  This  variation 
is  overcome  by  means  of  automatic  valves,  placed  at  oppo- 
site sides  of  the  balloon,  which,  under  certain  conditions, 
allow  an  escape  of  gas.  This  arrangement,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  guide  ropes  and  the  throwing  overboard  of 
ballast,  is  expected  to  enable  the  aeronauts  to  keep  the 
balloon  at  a  very  nearly  uniform  altitude. 

After  experimenting  with  \'arious  materials  for  generat- 
ing the  hydrogen  gas  needed  for  inflating  the  balloon  it 
was  decided  that  iron  filings  and  sulphuric  acid  were  the 
best  that  could  be  secured.  In  order  to  obtain  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  gas,  forty  tons  of  iron  filings,  thirty-nine  tons 
of  sulphuric  acid,  and  seventy-five  tons  of  water  were  used. 


544  THE   POLAR   EXFEDinONS 

The  balloon  house  was  constructed  by  chief  engineer 
Ivan  Svedberg,  in  Goteborg.  It  is  in  octagonal  form  with 
a  diameter  of  about  eighty  feet  and  is  about  as  high  as  an 
ordinary  house  of  five  stories.  A  balcony  runs  around  the 
whole  buildino;.  All  the  detail  work  was  finished  before 
any  part  of  the  building  was  shipped.  Thus  it  was  pos- 
sible to  erect  the  house  in  about  two  weeks  after  reaching 
its  site. 

A  large  number  of  carrier  pigeons  were  taken  along  to 
be  released  when  anything  of  importance  occurred.  There 
was  also  a  supply  of  cork  buoys  which  were  strong  enough 
to  endure  a  fall  upon  the  ice  from  the  altitude  of  the  bal- 
loon and  light  enough  to  float  in  open  water.  Each  buoy 
had  a  small  vertical  staff  with  a  Swedish  flag  large  enough 
to  be  visible  at  quite  a  distance.  In  the  centre  of  the  buoy 
is  a  place  for  a  water-tight  metal  box.  In  this  box  a  letter 
is  to  be  placed  before  the  buoy  is  thrown  overboard. 
These  buoys  may  float  in  the  currents  for  months,  or  even 
years,  before  they  are  brought  to  inhabited  coasts  or  are 
picked  up  at  sea. 

Andree  believed  that  the  balloon  would  follow  one  of 
the  four  courses  indicated  on  the  accompanying  chart. 
That  marked  I.  shows  what  he  considered  the  most  prob- 
able course,  and  the  one  indicated  by  IV.  marks  the  one 
which  he  thought  least  likely  to  be  followed.  If  the 
wind  was  from  the  south  when  the  start  was  made  the 
course  should  be  constant  to  the  Pole.  From  that  point 
there  might  be  a  frequent  change  of  currents  and  a  conse- 
quent shifting  to  different  directions. 

If  the  balloon  followed  what  was  regarded  as  the  course 
naturally  to  be  expected,  the  party  would  find  their  land- 
ing-place in  the  northeastern  portion  of  Siberia.     But  the 


THE  ANDJ<KE   BALLOON  KXJ'EDJTJOX  545 

direction  „f  polar  winds  cannot  be  foretold,  and  instead 
of  reaching  Siberia  the  party  nnoht  be  carried  to  the 
Samoied     Peninsula,    to    Alaska,    or     to     British     North 

America. 


I- IV  r„uy^. 


DIAGRAM   SIIOWINC    FOUR    ROI'TKS   EITHKR   ONK  OK   WHICH   ANDRP.E'S  BALXOOM 
MAY    HAVE   TAKKN    AI TKK    CRuSSINi;   THK   POLE 


Andree's  first  expedition  started  on  the  steamer  Virgo, 
from  Goteborg,  on  June  S,  1S96,  and  arrived  at  Spitz- 
bergen  on  the  19th  of  the  same  month.  I'or  his  com- 
panions Andree  had  chosen  Dr.  Nils  Mkhohn.  and  Nils 
Strindberg.  Dr.  Ekholm  is  four  years  older  than  Andr^ 
and  has  won  considerable  fame  as  a  meteoroloj^ist.  Nils 
Strindberg  was  born  in  Stockholm  in  1S72.  He  gradu- 
ated from  the  University  of  Lund,  where  he  made  a 
special  study  of  natural  philosophy,  and  he  has  won  an 


546  THE   POLAR   EXPEDITIONS 

excellent  reputation  as  an  amateur  photographer.  From 
the  first  day  on  which  he  heard  of  the  proposed  balloon 
expedition  he  had  been  eager  to  accompany  Andree  on 
the  trip.  He  is  a  nephew  of  the  Strindberg  who  is  pro- 
minent as  an  author. 

Pike's  house,  the  station  of  an  English  sportsman,  on 
the  northern  part  of  Danes  Island  (which  lies  on  the 
northwest  coast  of  Spitzbergen),  was  selected  as  the  most 
favorable  point  from  which  to  make  the  ascension.  The 
octagonal  house  was  erected  and  the  balloon  was  inflated 
under  the  superintendence  of  its  maker,  M.  Lachambre. 
On  July  27  the  preparatory  work  was  completed.  All 
that  w^as  then  required  was  a  south  wind.  For  this 
Andree  and  his  companions  waited,  but  waited  in  vain. 
During  the  first  week  in  August  it  was  decided  that,  as 
the  season  was  far  advanced,  the  expedition  must  be  aban- 
doned and  preparations  for  returning  home  were  com- 
menced. The  house,  balloon,  and  scientific  apparatus, 
were  taken  to  Tromso  to  be  stored,  and  Andree,  with  his 
companions,  returned  to  Stockholm.  Though  they  were 
greatly  disappointed  it  was  said  that  they  hoped  to  renew 
the  effort  the  next  summer. 

During  the  autumn  it  was  intimated  that  Andree  would 
not  make  another  attempt  to  carry  out  the  plan  which 
had  so  signally  failed.  The  fact  that  Dr.  Ekholm  had  re- 
signed as  a  member  of  the  expedition  was  quoted  as  proof 
that  the  rumor  was  correct.  It  was  said  that  from  the 
time  of  its  inflation  the  balloon  lost  a  considerable  volume 
of  gas  each  day.  This  leakage,  the  Doctor  believed, 
would  make  it  impossible  to  keep  the  balloon  afloat  long 
enough  to  make  the  voyage  to  the  Pole.  Another  ver- 
sion, which  is  probably  the  correct  one,  was  to  the  effect 


548  THE   POLAR  EXPEDJTJOXS 

that  Dr.  Ekholm  had  been  married  shortly  before  starting 
on  the  expedition,  and  that  on  his  return  his  wife  exacted 
from  him  a  promise  never  to  attempt  another  experiment 
of  this  kind.  Rumors  that  the  expedition  had  been  aban- 
doned were  pubHshed  in  numerous  papers,  until  Andree 
made  a  public  and  emphatic  denial  in  December,  1896. 

The  necessary  funds  for  a  new  expedition  were  quickly 
and  easily  obtained.  King  Oscar  was  the  principal  con- 
tributor. The  government  also  gave  Andree  substantial 
encouragement  by  placing  the  gunboat  Svcnskstind  at  his 
disposal.  During  the  winter  experiments  were  continued 
and  various  improvements  of  the  steering  apparatus  were 
effected. 

When  it  became  known  that  Dr.  Ekholm  was  not  to 
accompany  the  new  expedition,  Knut  Hjalmar  Ferdinand 
Frankel  offered  to  take  his  place.  Frankel  was  born  in 
Karlstad,  in  1870,  studied  at  the  technical  college  at 
Stockholm,  graduated  as  an  engineer  in  1892,  and  was 
then  employed  by  the  government  in  building  railroads  in 
the  northern  part  of  Sweden.  Andree,  who  knew  him  as 
an  able  and  efficient  engineer,  gladly  accepted  his  offer. 

Early  in  June,  1897,  the  expedition  started  for  Danes 
Island  and  on  the  14th  of  that  month  the  case  which  con- 
tained the  balloon  was  landed.  This,  on  account  of  its 
great  size,  was  an  exceedingly  difficult  operation.  M. 
Lachambre  did  not  accompany  this  party,  but  sent  his 
nephew,  M.  Machuron,  a  well-known  expert,  in  his  place. 
Under  his  direction  the  balloon  was  unpacked.  It  was 
found  to  be  in  perfect  condition. 

On  June  19  the  work  of  inflation  was  commenced  under 
the  direction  of  Engineer  Stake  who,  with  a  number  of 
carpenters  and  other  helpers,  had  accompanied  the  expedi- 


^^\x.xX>. 


350  THE   POLAR   EXPEDITIONS 

tion  to  this  point.  At  midnight  of  June  22  it  was  com- 
pleted. The  balloon  then  contained  about  one  hundred 
and  seventy  thousand  cubic  feet  of  hydrogen  gas. 

Meanwhile  Andree  attended  to  the  work  of  getting  the 
instruments,  and  a  supply  of  provisions,  into  the  gondola. 
Frankel,  Strindberg,  and  an  assistant  named  Schveden- 
boro-,  areased  the  immense  guide  ropes  with  a  mixture  of 
lard  and  vaseline  in  order  to  make  them  glide  easily  over 
the  ice.  The  carpenters  were  also  employed  in  taking 
down  the  upper  part  of  the  northern  side  of  the  balloon 

house. 

Then  a  few  days  were  spent  in  testing  the  air-tight 
qualities  of  the  balloon.  In  the  performance  of  this  work 
an  entirely  new  process  was  adopted.  All  the  seams  of 
the  balloon  were  covered  with  strips  of  white  material 
which  had  been  impregnated  with  a  certain  chemical  mix- 
ture. Wherever  gas  escaped  these  strips  were  blackened. 
Eight  or  ten  men,  holding  on  to  the  meshes  of  the  netting, 
climbed  simultaneously  to  the  dome  of  the  balloon  to  place 
the  prepared  strips  in  position.  This  was  difificult  work, 
but  by  its  means  several  leaks,  which  with  ordinary 
methods  could  not  have  been  found,  were  soon  discovered. 
These  were  carefully  repaired. 

The  balloon,  which  bore  the  very  appropriate  name  of 
Ornen  {Eagle,  in  English),  was  ready  to  start  on  June  30, 
but  nearly  two  weeks  passed  before  the  conditions  were 
sufficiently  favorable  to  justify  the  party  in  leaving.  The 
following  details  of  the  ascension  have  been  gathered  from 
the  diary  of  M.  Machuron  and  various  other  sources. 

From  the  first  of  July  the  members  of  the  expedition 
were  anxious  to  commence  their  voyage  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible.      They  fully  realized  that  each  day's  delay  meant 


THE   AXDKJ.h    r>AJJ^'^.\    /AJJilJjjJi    \  r^g 

a  loss   of  one  clay  of   summer  and  of  - 

ing  on  their  work.     Andree  was  deteuiw;i.<j 

should  be   no  such   failure  as  that  of  the   pre. 

and  declared  that  lu-  would  "  start  for  the  Pole  ■ 

casion,  cost  wli at  it  may  and  in  spite  of  all  difficultieN  lh.it 

may  arise." 

During  the  morning  ol   July  ii  .Andree  •■  .lly 

silent   and  aj^peared  to  be  in   very  earnest   i ^,...     .\t 

about  ten  o'clock  he  went  to  note  the  indications  of  the 
various    meteorological   instruments  —  anemometer,  ther- 
mometer,   l)arunK'ter,  etc.  —  which    he  had  brought   with 
him.      The  wind  was  then   south-.southwest.     About  half 
an   iiour  afterwards  he  suddenly  announced  that  he  was 
ready  for  an  immediate  departure.      He   asked  advice  of 
the  other  members  of  the  expedition,  the  captain  of  the 
Svensksuiid,  and  M.  Machuron.     All  agreed  that  the  lime 
for  action  liad  come.     At  eleven  o'clock  the  work  of  pre- 
paration was  commenced.     The  car|)enters.  aided  by  the 
sailors  of  the  Sz'ensi'sunci,  began  to  take  down  the  northern 
side  of  the  shed,  while  at  the  same  time  the  southern  side 
was  made  higher  in  order  to  protect  the  balloon  from  the 
rapidly  rising  wind.     One  of  the  i)rincipal  difficulties  xfc-as 
to  get  the  balloon  free  without  having  its  t' 
contact  with  the  boards  and  timbers  of  tlu  -....        .  ...- 

danger  was  reduced  as  much  as  possible  by  jjaddinj:  thr 
posts  and  other  prominent  parts  with  felt.     As  the 
lition  of    the  shed  |)rogres>ed    and  brought  it  more  and 
more    into  view,    the    balloon,  with    its  great  h 
large  circumference,  looked  more  like  a  sul)-* 
ing  than  an  object  lighter  than  air.     Hut  it  - 
roll,  and    in    order  to  steady  it  large  bands  wi  d 

around  it  and  fastened  to  the  uprights  of  the  shed.      I  hen 


552  THE   POLAR  EXPEDITIONS 

the  whole  surface  was  again  carefully  examined  to  discover 
and  check  an}'  leakage  and  repair  any  weak  spots  that 
mio^ht  be  found. 

All  the  work  was  carried  on  with  the  greatest  rapidity. 
Each  member  of  the  expedition  assisted,  and  the  herculean 
strength  of  Frankel  was  shown  by  his  easy  handling  of 
enormous  beams  and  weights  which  an  ordinary  man 
could  hardly  move.  The  last  thing  to  be  done  to  get  the 
balloon  in  readiness  was  to  attach  the  car.  This  was 
accomplished  at  about  two  o'clock.  The  attachment  was 
made  to  the  ring,  which  itself  was  held  by  three  strong 
ropes  which  were  fastened  to  large  stakes  firmly  driven 
into  the  ground. 

Andree  now  hurriedly  wrote  two  despatches,  one  to 
the  Aftonbladet  and  the  other  to  King  Oscar.  They  were 
to  be  taken  by  steamer  to  Tromso  and  from  there  tele- 
graphed to  Stockholm.  These  messages,  which  were  as 
follows,  were  received  at  Stockholm  on  the  1 6th  of  July:  — 

To  Aftonbladet :  — 

To-day,  Sunday,  at  10.35  a.  m.  we  began  preparations 
for  departure  and  are  ready  now,  2.30  p.  m.  We  shall 
probably  be  going  in  N.  and  N.  East  direction  and  expect 
by  and  by  to  come  into  regions  with  more  favorable  wind 
conditions  than  here.  In  the  name  of  all  my  associates  I 
send  warmest  orreetin^  to  fatherland  and  friends, 

Andree. 

To  King  Oscar,  dated  Virgos  Harbor,  July  1 1,  2.35  p.m.  : 

In  the  moment  of  departure  the  members  of  the  Polar 
expedition  beg  your  Majesty  to  accept  our  respectful 
greeting  and  warmest  thanks.  Andree. 


■f^^^y-r^ 


[ie*- 


A    GOOD   STARt         lltl     IiM\KTI   IK    of     Till-     -  r  \>.I  I         HOM    I 


554  THE   POLAR   EXPEDITIONS 

Everything  had  been  made  ready,  and  the  long-desired 
moment  for  departure  had  now  arrived.  There  was  no 
ceremony,  and  hardly  a  word  was  spoken,  yet  the  leave- 
takings  were  very  affecting.  The  final  preparations  had 
been  completed  in  haste,  and  there  was  no  time  for  any- 
thing superfluous.  The  members  of  the  expedition  shook 
hands  cordially  with  those  who  were  to  remain.  There 
seemed  to  be  a  suppressed  feeling  of  anxiety  and  emotion 
among  the  group,  but  the  three  explorers  were  remarkably 
calm.  Andrea  appeared  as  cool  and  collected  as  on  any 
other  day,  and  his  air  of  quiet  confidence  fully  reassured 
the  others.  Frankel  was  resolute  and  cheerful,  while 
Strindberg,  though  equally  courageous,  could  not  repress 
a  slight  trembling  of  his  hands  as  the  decisive  moment 

came. 

Andree  mounted  the  car,  made  a  careful  examination 
to  see  that  everything  was  in  order,  and  then  in  a  tone  of 
command  called  out,  "  Strindberg  !  "  Strindberg  mounted. 
"  Frankel !  "  Frankel  mounted.  "  Come !  "  said  Andree 
cheerfully.     Not  another  word  was  spoken. 

The  captain  of  the  Svensksund  was  in  charge  of  the 
sailors  appointed  to  cut  the  cords  that  held  the  balloon. 
They  first  released  the  bands  that  stayed  the  balloon 
around  the  centre.  The  rolling  motion,  which  these 
bands  had  been  employed  to  check,  now  commenced 
again.  It  was  necessary  to  wait  for  a  moment  when  the 
balloon  should  be  in  comparative  equilibrium.  Both  the 
captain  of  the  Svensksund  and  Andree  watched  intently. 
Suddenly  Andree  cried  out  "  Cut !  "  The  sailors  vigor- 
ously plied  their  knives,  and  in  a  moment  the  released 
balloon  bounded  to  the  height  of  three  hundred  feet  in 
the  air. 


1*  t  I  c 


IJIJ:  .IXDh'E/:  liALLOON  KXVEL 
Wild  cries  <.f  "Hurrah!"  and  "Happy  Voy.. 
raised  by  the  spectators  on  the  shore.  They  u 
answered  by  the  occuj)ants  of  the  ball<K»n.  ,,u 
engrossed  in  watching  the  course  ..f  their  .».  ■ 
Almost  immediately  the  balloon  rapidly  descen.. 
to  the  surface  of  the  waves,  but  the  wind  u-a*  bi 
violently,  and  it  (|uickly  rose  and  was  soon  moving  awny 
at  great  si)eed.  The  three  explorers  wavc-d  their  hand- 
kerchiefs  until  the  balloon  passed  out  (»f  sight  of  land.  In 
about  half  an  hour  it  vanished  from  the  view  of  the  spec. 
tators,  but  for  some  time  longer  they  remained  silently 
watching  the  hori/on  and  rejoicing  that  they  had  been 
permitted  to  witness  the  departure  of  one  of  the  mo!»l 
remarkable  expeditions  the  world  has  ever  known. 

At  the  moment  of  leaving  an  incident  occurred  which. 
though  in  itself  unfortunate,  demonstrated  the  fact  that 
Andree  had  carefully  and  thoughtfully  looked  into  all  the 
details  of  the  expedition  and  had  providt^d  for  emergen- 
cies. As  the  balloon  first  bounded  into  the  air  two  of  the 
guide  ropes,  which  were  trailing  for  a  consid-     '  '    '       th 

on  the  ground,  were  broken  by  the  tension  t.... ::ic 

sudden  rise  of  the  balloon  and  the  friction  of  the  ro|K*s  on 
the  surface.  If  no  provision  had  been  made  therefor  such 
an  accident  might  have  caused  the  loss  of  the  whole 
system   of  guide   ro|)es   before   the  «         ■"  •     •         •^. 

started.      But  Andree  had  foiescen  tl.v   ,  h 

a  mishap  and   had   directed   that   these      .  «c 

made  in  lengths  of  alx)ut  one  hundred  )'ards  each,  and 
that  these  jxarts  should  be  united  with  screws.     ( 
quently,  the  accident  noted  meant  i     * 
than  the  loss  of  a  fraction  of  the  avan.mn.  n.p    ii>i   i^um- 
ing  the  balloon. 


556  THE   POLAR  EXPEDIl'IONS 

The  great  utility  of  the  guide  ropes  was  evident  at  the 
very  commencement  of  the  voyage.  Although  the  direc- 
tion of  the  wind  was  from  the  south-southwest  the  o-uide 
ropes  enabled  the  explorers  to  turn  the  course  of  the  bal- 
loon nearly  or  quite  due  north.  They  w^ere  also  of  great 
service  in  keeping  the  balloon  at  a  nearly  uniform  alti- 
tude. At  first  there  appeared  to  be  danger  that  it  would 
be  dashed  asrainst  an  ice-covered  hill,  some  six  hundred 
feet  in  height,  that  seemed  to  lie  directly  in  its  path.  But 
as  the  balloon  approached  it  soared  over  the  hill,  like  an 
enormous  bird,  constantly  keeping  at  just  about  the  same 
distance  from  the  surface. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  history  of  this  remarkable  expedi- 
tion up  to  the  time  of  its  departure  for  the  Pole.  If  it 
returns  a  new  impetus  will  be  given  to  the  science  and 
practice  of  aerial  navigation.  If  the  explorers  perish  their 
fame  will  be  secure.  Their  names  will  be  enrolled  with 
those  of  the  many  earlier  heroes  who  gave  their  lives  to 
the  work  of  Arctic  investigation  and  discovery. 

Andree  entered  upon  this  expedition  in  full  confidence 
that  if  he  should  fail  others  would  promptly  carry  on  the 
work.  This  is  indicated  by  the  closing  words  of  a  lecture 
on  the  proposed  expedition  which  he  delivered  at  the 
annual  festival  of  the  Swedish  Society  of  Anthropology 
and  Geography,  on  "  Vega-dagen,"  April  17,  1896,  and 
which  were  as  follows :  "  If  our  expedition  should  return 
home  without  success,  or  even  if  we  should  perish,  it  will 
not  be  long  before  a  new  balloon  expedition  will  be 
started  for  the  same  purpose  as  ours.  This  idea  has 
taken  such  a  mighty  hold  on  the  human  mind  that  it  can- 
not be  quieted.  It  will  necessarily  appear  again  with  the 
full  strength  of  a  natural  law." 


THE  GONDOLA   OF  THC  **  KAGLt 


558  THE   POLAR   EXPEDITIONS 


THE    PEARY    EXPEDITION. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Geographical 
Society,  which  was  held  in  New  York  city  on  January  12, 
1897,  the  services  of  Lieutenant  R.  E.  Peary  in  the  work 
of  Arctic  exploration  were  recognized  by  an  award  of  the 
Cullum  Geographical  Medal.  At  this  meeting  Mr.  Peary 
expressed  his  confidence  that  the  North  Pole  could  and 
would  be  reached,  and  asserted  that  the  principal  factors 
of  success  in  that  work  were  time  and  money.  He  also 
briefly  outlined  a  plan  of  operations  which  he  believed 
could  be  carried  out. 

Among  the  main  features  of  this*^Dlan  are  the  raising  of 
a  fund  sufficient  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  work  for  several 
years,  if  necessary;  and  making  the  journey  toward  the 
Pole  by  regular  stages.  It  was  proposed  to  go  on  a  suit- 
able ship  to  Whale  Sound,  where  several  Eskimo  families 
were  to  be  embarked,  and  then  pass  to,  or  beyond,  Sherard 
Osborne  Fjord,  and  at  some  convenient  point  land  the  Es- 
kimos and  the  necessary  stores.  The  ship  would  then 
return.  The  location  chosen  would  be  used  as  a  base  of 
supplies,  and  depots  would  be  established  at  intervals  as 
sledge  journeys  were  made  toward  the  North.  The  party 
would  live  in  snow  houses.  Land  would  be  followed  to 
the  northern  limit  of  the  archipelago,  and  then  a  "  dash  for 
the  Pole,"  over  what  during  a  large  part  of  the  year  is 
doubtless  a  frozen  sea,  would  be  attempted.  As  he  con- 
siders a  small  party  both  safer  and  more  efficient  than  a 
large  one.  Lieutenant  Peary  proposes,  in  the  final  effort, 
to  take  only  two  or  three  men,  with  dogs  and  sledges. 

On  May  26,  1897,  Lieutenant  Peary  was  granted  a  leave 


Tin-  ri'.AK)  >/j'/o\  ^5., 

of  absL-ncc   from   llic   L'.  S.  Navy  for  five 

July  19  he  sailed  from   Boston,  on  the  >leamcr // 

the  northwest  coa>t  of  rireenlaiul.  i- 

in  September.     Thi.s  trip,  it  is  uncle;   .. 

to  arrange  with  a  few  Eskimo  families  \     ^ 

the  main  expedition  and  establish  a  colony  in  iSq-H.     ft  i^ 

hoped  that  from  the  point  then  selected  the 

to  the  Pole  can  be  commenced  in  the  spring;  oi  i.-kyy. 

[The  trip  above  noted  was  quite  sur        '    '      "-   -    ■ 

tory  arrangements  were  made  with  the  I.-; .    - 

Sound  to  assist  in  the  work  to  be  taken  up  next  year. 

On   its  return  voyage  the  IJopc  reached  Sydney.  C  B^ 
on  September  20,  where  it  stopped  to  obtain  a  supply  of 
coal.     Lieutenant   Peary  brought  with  him  si.\  Ii>' 
with  their  tents,  sledges,  canoes,  and  dogs.     He  .i 
tained  a  number  of  relics  of  the  di>astrous  Greely  < 
tion,  and  brought  from  Cape  \'ork  the  famous  meteorite 
which  weighs  about  t)ne  hundred  tons  and  is  supixtsed  to 
be  the  largest  body  of  the  kind  in  the  world.    On  Septem- 
ber 22  Lieutenant  Peary  and  his  jiarty  arrived  at  lioston.] 

AXTARrTrr    expkdition. 

As  compared  with  those  to  the  Arctic  regions.  .Antarc- 
tic expeditions  have  been  few  and  small.     W 
cially  tnie  as  regards  the  work  that  h.i>  W'v    ' 
the  last  half  century.     Of  late,  however,  t 
be  an  increased  degree  of  interest  in  the  M>uthem  field. 

From  1567,  when  Peni  sent  out  the  first  Ax 
pedition.  to  1773.  when  Captain  C(M>k.  with  a  l> 
crossed   the   Antarctic  circle,  sever  ' 
by  peojile  of  diffe""^'  .  ...•nfi;..^  t.»  1 


56o  THE  POLAR   EXPEDITIONS 

regions,  but  they  had  amounted  to  but  Httle.  From  the 
days  of  Captain  Cook  to  the  present  time  there  have  also 
been  expeditions,  mostly  on  a  small  scale,  from  various 
lands.  The  most  fruitful  of  these  efforts  was  that  of  Sir 
James  Clark  Ross,  in  1839-43.  A  point  78°  1 1'  S.  latitude 
was  reached  and  some  interesting  discoveries  were  made. 

During  the  past  summer  an  expedition  for  exploring  the 
Antarctic  regions  has  been  fitted  out  under  the  direction 
of  Captain  Adrien  de  Gerlache,  of  Belgium,  under  whose 
command  it  left  Antwerp  about  the  middle  of  August. 
More  than  half  the  expense  of  this  expedition  was  borne 
by  the  Belgian  government. 

The  Belgica,  upon  which  the  explorers  sailed,  was  ori- 
ginally built  as  a  whaling  ship  for  service  in  the  ice,  but  it 
has  been  thoroughly  refitted  and  greatly  strengthened. 
She  not  only  has  engines  capable  of  giving  a  speed  of  seven 
knots  per  hour,  but  also  carries  a  large  area  of  canvas. 

The  ship  carries  twenty-three  men,  several  of  whom  are 
well-known  scientists.  Among  the  latter  is  Dr.  Frederick 
A.  Cook,  of  this  country,  who  has  made  three  trips  to  the 
Arctic  regions,  and  who  has  sailed  to  Montevideo  to  join 
the  present  expedition  when  it  arrives  at  that  port.  The 
vessel  is  well  equipped  and  has  supplies  for  two  years. 

The  purpose  of  this  expedition  is  not  to  reach  the  South 
Pole,  but  to  make  as  thorough  an  exploration  as  possible 
of  the  shores  of  the  Antarctic  region.  It  is  expected  to 
reach  Graham  Land  about  the  middle  of  October  and  be 
able  to  continue  work  until  March,  when  it  will  probably 
be  obliged  to  retreat  to  Cape  Adare,  to  remain  during  the 
Antarctic  winter. 


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